Deku: Beyond The Archetype
by MoonlitWaves877
Summary: This is a story the tries to answer the question, what if Izuku decided to get a little more serious about becoming a hero a little earlier than cannon. He meets Tsuyu of all people after a particularly soul crushing beating from Bakugou, but Tsuyu manages to relight his determination. Strong but not OP Izuku, Main pairing IzuTsuyu since I freakin love it. Rated M for language.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, this is my first story ever, so send me some constructive criticisms if you have something you want to say. I'll try to make a piece that everyone can enjoy, so don't hate me too much, I don't even have a beta-reader to go over my work. But I don't want to make a rant, so please enjoy this little first chapter.

Chapter 1: Let Us Begin

Normal Speech: "Howdy folks."

Thoughts: 'Howdy folks.'

The sun overhead bore down intensely on an already miserable young man. Consumed in his thoughts, he trudged forward, emerald eyes overcast by uncontrolled green hair. He rubbed his face, pulling away to look at the tears that stuck to his knuckles. He flicked the droplets off the back of his hand. Izuku was once again walking home bruised and defeated. His torn black coat tossed over his shoulder to cover a fresh burn. After taking so many beatings from someone that used to be his closest friend, Izuku's spirit was worse off than his body.

He had once again been at the mercy (or lack thereof) of his former friend, Katsuki. Ever since that day by the river when they were children, the explosive blonde had shown him nothing but contempt. Even a friendly hello had become reason enough to blow Izuku away. Yet every morning, without fail or pause, Izuku would walk up to him and try to start a friendly conversation. It was always the same result, a threat and a violent explosion to send him away. Izuku was no fool, he say the futility in his own actions. He heard his classmates whisper "How far will he fly today" or "Maybe he does have a quirk, I've ever seen someone take that kinda beating before." But Izuku ignored them, he had to just hold on to hope, cling to it if he must. He wanted to call Kaachan his friend once more.

He sighed to himself, 'Why do I keep trying? Nothing is going to change.'

Izuku sat down on a park bench, or rather fell onto it, his body becoming too heavy to continue. Daring a glance at his shoulder, he tenderly lifted his coat. He winced at the sight, moving to cover the cut with his coat once more. From the raw look and char marks he could tell that it was going to get infected if he didn't clean it as soon as he got home. For now he would just have to bare then pain. He reached into his own back pocket to fish out the only thing that wasn't damaged by his utter thrashing at school. His notebook, by the grace an infallibly merciful god, always remained unscathed despite anything that happened to its owner. Izuku opened up to a dog eared page that revealed many crossed out names beginning with All. All-Super, All-Man, and All-Power to name a few.

Even as he sat there staring at broken dreams, Izuku heard Katsuki rage in the back of his mind, 'How's a quirkless shit like you ever gonna be anything more than a secretary for some shitty C-lister hero? WELL? ANSWER ME DEKU!'

'He's right,' Izuku sighed internally, writing Deku over all the crossed out hero names. 'What was I even going to do against a real villain?'

"Deku huh, that sounds like a good superhero name to me. But it's a bit sad don't you think?"

"AGGH," the ragged young man cried out, falling off the bench and bumping his head into a wooden mile marker post, before landing on his bad shoulder. He groaned into his own hand, nearly curling into a ball, as if he wasn't embarrassed enough.

"Oh, my bad, I haven't introduced myself," an almost croaking, but distinctly feminine voice spoke from the other side of the bench.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you, I'll be going now," Izuku gathered his notebook and pencil without looking up, afraid to come face to face with anyone as he was now. His already bashful nature and overbearing shame wouldn't allow it.

"You're a bit too apologetic you know, I was just apologizing for startling you." Midoriya glanced up from his keeling position, and to be frank, his first impression of her was cute. She had straight black hair the came into a neat bow near the base of her back, very much opposing his wild mop. Her hands were large, more so than his own. So was her mouth, though it was in a permanent, unreadable curve that gave off a curious vibe. She had an overall blank expression, but he could at least tell that she wasn't mad, or even looking down on him. In fact, she looked almost concerned for him. The last thing he noticed was her eyes. They were a deep black, and they held him. They were so beautifully mesmerizing that he didn't noticing the warm blush crossing his features.

"Hey, you're staring really intensely right now, it's sorta weird," she pointed out with a hint of embarrassment.

"M-my, I was, um, I'm sorry." Izuku hung his head, unable to look her in the eye again. 'She's really cute. But I don't remember seeing her before. Looking at her uniform, she goes to another school so I wouldn't see her during the day. I'm not normally here by this time anyway, but today I got... caught up at school. Oh, she's still talking to me!'

"It's fine, but you should really stop apologizing so much. So, Deku is a good hero name, but what should I call you until then?"

Izuku let his hair overshadow his eyes, "Deku isn't a hero's name, it's an insult. That all it is, all I am."

"You don't have a lot of confidence huh?" she croaked, pickup up his pencil and notebook. "And that didn't tell me your name. I'm Tsuyu Asui by the way, but my friends call me Tsuyu."

"I'm Izuku Midoriya, Asui-san," he responded in kind, lifting his things from her open palms.

"Please call me Tsuyu, Izuku-chan." Again, her unreadable expression made it difficult, but Midoriya could have sworn she was smiling, in her own difficult to identify way.

"Right, Tsuyu-san. Well, I was telling the truth, I can't be a hero, I don't have a quirk. I don't really have any skills either, even rescue work would be out of my reach. I don't know what I would do if I was ever in a real situation."

"You're right, that does sound a little hopeless," Tsuyu spouted, index finger pressed to her bottom lip and eyes turned up in a thoughtful expression. Izuku thought that it was her thinking pose, or perhaps a habit.

"You're way too blunt Tsuyu-san," Izuku's head dropped, a visible rain cloud hovering over him.

"But that doesn't mean you can't be a hero." Izuku's eyes widened at that. "There's never even been a rule saying that quirkless people can't be heroes. I guess it would be a really incredible."

"But how could I, without any skills or even a minor quirk to help, I'd just be a bother."

"I guess it's about determination. I've heard of a hero that has the ability to nullify quirks by looking at people. It doesn't work on people that leave his field of vision so he has trouble with large groups. He worked around it by specializing in hand-to-hand combat. Maybe you could find ways to work around being quirkless."

"Do you really think I could do it?" Izuku flinched as the words left his mouth. He wanted to hear her opinion even if he expected her to answer the same way everyone else had before. Maybe he was being naive like when he always tried to greet Katsuki. Or was he was still clinging on to hope, which he felt dull each day. Perhaps the very chance that someone might believe in him was worth the risk of hearing another no. "Tsuyu-san, do you think I could really become a hero?"

"Is it what you want, Izuku-chan." Her eyes were looking straight into his, and he knew his answer. There was only ever one way for him to answer.

"Being and hero is all I've ever wanted." Izuku spoke with conviction. "It's all I've ever thought about, it's what I need."

"Then yes, I believe in you. I also believe think Deku is a pretty cool hero name." She gave him a genuine smile, and it set Izuku's stomach to flutter.

"Thank you," he said it quietly, his voice close to a whisper. It was all he could do to keep himself from tears. "No one has ever said that to me, not once."

Tsuyu looked over towards him from her seat on the bench, seeing his tears build in the corners of his eyes, and she held out her hand, "I want to be a hero too, next year I plan to apply at U.A."

Izuku looked at her hand before standing up, her gripped her hand in his own and spoke with a new fire in his lungs, "Then I'll meet you there. So please remember me then." Izuku had

"I will, and Izuku?"

"Yes, Tsuyu-chan?" Izuku had his eyes focused onto her, hanging on what she might say next.

"You shouldn't yell so loud in public, we're still at a public park you know."

"Yeah, I got really carried away," he looked around nervously to see if he had caused a disturbance, but in doing so he missed the blush that crossed over the black haired beauty's face.

'He can be cute when he's not being all depressing or nervous.' Not that Tsuyu could say such a thing out loud, even her blunt nature had a limit.

While Izuku stood there, lost in his excitement, a young girl arrived on the scene. She was wearing a uniform identical to Tsuyu's, a white dress shirt under a blue coat that cover a beige skirt. She scarlet hair that refused to be tamed, even more so than Izuku's. Her face stood out that most as it had the exact likeness of a snake, yellow eyes and green scales to be exact. She stopped in front of the pair, looking back and forth between the two before staring at Izuku intensely. At that instant Izuku froze, his every muscle paralyzed in place. It was unfortunate for him that he was in motion. Completely aware of his conditions, Izuku's statue like form leaned forward before landing face first into the same wooden post he had only minutes before. Tsuyu just looked on knowingly before speaking.

"It's fine Habuko, he is a nice guy really." Tsuyu's words seemed to put the newcomer at ease.

"Sorry," the now named Habuko droned out, releasing the green dork from her icy gaze, "He just looked kinda weird in that crazy pose."

"You're way to blunt as well." Izuku tenderly rubbed his cheek with he was sure just bruised against the mile marker.

"Don't blame me for being honest," she shrugged. "Anyway, Tsuyu I came because I saw the bus down the street, let's get going so we don't miss it."

"Well I guess I'll see you around Izuku. Remember what we talked about, and meet me at U.A. in one year."

"You can count on it. From now on, Deku is a hero's name." Izuku did his best to smile confidently, and Tsuyu gave him her own smile before jogging to catch up with Habuko.

Now deep in thought, Izuku started his own trek home.

'What should I do now. I said all that but it takes more than pretty words to become a hero. I need to train, I need get stronger, become a real fighter. It wouldn't hurt to have some equipment either, something to assist me so I'm not out their without protection or a means to help. Now that I think about it I could use some armor too. Something not to restricting but I don't want to give up too much defense for mobility, I need to find a balance. I used to have notebooks full of designs and tactics, but I lost track of them so long ago. I should write this down in my new journal.'

Reaching back into his pocket, he brought the journal out and flipped to what should have been a clean new page, but on the right side in neat bold handwriting, a name had been written. 'Tsuyu-chan: A.K.A. Froppy: The Rainy Season Hero.' Izuku stopped in his tracks, and he couldn't help but smile. Tsuyu-chan, I will meet you there, as an equal. So he wrote down on the other page, 'Deku: The Never Give Up Hero.'

He stood for a minute, taking in the sun as it hung in the skyline, hovering just above the horizon. "It's still going to be a little while before it gets dark. If I'm going to get serious then I should start right away, and I know just the place."

With that thought he took off down the street, hoping to get to his destination before it could close. He thought back to when he and Kaachan were still children, still friends. The one place they always seemed to go to was the gym. It wasn't large or gradiouse in its appearance, but everyone on the inside was on top of their game. The boys would spend afternoons peeking through the windows, watching as various people went about training. The owner, a grey-haired woman well into her years, took a personal stake in each and everyone of her trainees. One might not expect it from her lithe frame, but Izuku had seen first-hand what she was capable of. She hit like a bullet and moved like a dancer, a pinnacle of fighting prowess. Kaachan even imitated her movements at one point but became frustrated at not being able to do more complicated movements.

After a short sprint, Izuku came to a stop across the street from an older building. He rarely exercised, and even then it was only when he was forced to. His lack of activity showed in his exhaustion from the run. Izuku looked worn, nearly ragged. Not even his injuries could excuse his pitiful state. His status was that of someone that just ran a marathon, not a mile.

"I'll have.. to work on my cardiovascular endurance. A lot." Once he had regained his breath he walked into a traditionally styled building, red tiles covered the roof, which ended in four upward curving corners, and square windows that were held open by poles connected to the window sills. Pulling the doors open he saw a room full of people in full blast. Everyone was in functional attire, from tank tops and training shorts to head gear and weight vests. All of them were working on their own routines and circuits.

Immediately Izuku was drawn to the sight of a 20 something young man being unceremoniously tossed out of a canvas of a ring by a gray-haired women with a sour expression. The man had barely hit the ground, head first he might add, when the women started a tirade.

"GO WORK ON YOUR FORM RUNT," she roared at the still recovering brunette, "The next time you even think of fighting in a form that sloppy I'll string you up and use you as a punching bag!" Izuku quickly moved out of the way for the man, who ran off to another corner of the gym. Izuku himself was a little more than intimidated.

Izuku was having second thoughts by now, his memories had cast a rosy tint on the reality of the situation. The woman looked merciless, and had barely broken a sweat. Izuku wasn't entirely sure it was hers either. Rather than continue to berate the man her eyes roamed the gym looking for something else to do already, and Izuku silently prayed that she wouldn't see him if he stood still and held his breath. PErhaps it wasn't too late to leave unseen.

"Hey you, kid that clearly doesn't own a comb, what are you doing in my gym?" She had turned a cold glare towards our viridian protagonist. To his credit Izuku wasn't crying. Yet.

Not wanting to find out if her volatile nature would be turned on a stranger, Izuku responded, "I came here because I was told that the people here were strong. And th-that, um, I could find training."

"Well you're right, but I didn't want to know what other people told you, I ASKED WHY YOU'RE HERE! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!? YOU BETTER ANSWER ME RIGHT, BEDHEAD!"

"I'm here because I want to a hero!" Izuku regretted his choice of words but it was too late to back out now. "I need to be able to defend myself before I can try to protect someone else so I'm here to learn. I want to be strong like everyone here."

"Not a half-bad answer brat, but it's a little late today. Come here right after school tomorrow and I'll decide if you're worth it. Ya don't look like the delinquent type, so I expect you to be punctual. But here's a little word of warning, this ain't a dojo. The people you see around you aren't gearing up for tournaments. Some of them of underground heros, others are cops, but all of 'em work themselves to the bone. So you if you show up tomorrow it's work from your first leg in to the last one out. If you show up tomorrow it's for real."

'She's like a calmer Katsuki. At least she isn't explosive like him. I hope.' Forcing the fear out of his voice, ironically in fear of getting his ass-kicked, Izuku puffed out his laughably bony chest, "Yes ma'am," he shouted back before turning to leave.

"One last thing curly, it's Kylie, Killer Kylie. Don't come around with any of that ma'am or miss crap, and don't keep me waiting tomorrow. It's been a while since we had a newbie but that doesn't mean you get special treatment."

Izuku stepped outside and grabbed his chest, letting out the breathe he didn't know he was holding. 'This is to become a hero, this is to become a hero, this is to become a hero.' He ultimately fell to his knees, 'But why does becoming a hero have to mean dealing with crazy people.'

Izuku was brought out of his lamenting by someone opening the door behind him. The sudden loss of a platform to lean on caused Izuku to stumble backwards, but thankfully the person behind the door caught him by the shoulders. "Hey, you're the kid that just came inside right?"

Izuku stood up and turned to look at the new voice surprised to see a familiar face, "Oh, your the guy Kylie-san beat up."

"Please just call me Yujiro, Yujiro Haruno. Anyway, Kylie sent me out to ask for your name."

"Oh right," Izuku bashfully rubbed his neck, "I'm Izuku Midoriya."

"Well Midoriya-san, If you're going to start training at this gym, here's some advice for your first day from a veteran of the gym." Yujiro's face suddenly turned to a look of gaunt remembrance. His cheeks were hollow and pale in appearance. He started shivering despite the autumn evening being a bit on the warm side. "Don't ever talk back and eat a light lunch."

"One more thing Izuku," someone spoke form behind the two of them. Both boys turned around to a glaring Kylie, "Don't slack off on your training."

"But you sent me to ask him is name," Yujiro made logical sense, but Kylie had a differing opinion.

"Yujiro," Kylie took on a sweet tone that didn't match her threatening demeanor, "That sounded an awful lot like back talk."

"Kylie-san-."

"Start practicing that form runt, before you start to upset me."

Yujiro ran back into the building, followed by Kylie who took a more relaxed pace. Before she entered the building she cast Izuku one last glance, promising punishment.

"I mean what I said, don't be late shaggy." Without another word she slammed the door behind her, and Izuku was able to take a last glance at Yujiro, who was running through drills already. Izuku also noticed the fear in his eyes, gulping to himself before shaking off the worry.

He looked at the sky, a bit darker than when he entered the building, and decided to run home. He afforded himself no breaks, as to start his training of properly. It could also be said that he felt as if his new 'sensei's eyes were following him, but that's just theory. Finally he reached his street, dropping to his knees, and taking in gulps of air. 'Definitely need more cardio.'

Izuku crept towards the finals steps of his home before he realized something, perhaps the most ground breaking event of the whole evening, which had discreetly slipped past him.

"I TALKED TO A GIRL, I TALKED TO TWO GIRLS. ONE OF THEM WROTE IN MY NOTEBOOK!" Izuku threw his arm up ignoring his burned shoulder. "But then the other one froze me," he deflated.

"Izuku?" a caring voice sounded from behind the door. "Is that you? What are you yelling about?"

"Nothing mom!"


	2. Chapter 2

**I got some good responses for the first chapter, I'm glad you guys like the story well enough to comment. I hope I can improve in writing quality further, so please continue on with the story.**

 **A few notes I should add in. This is something like 12 months before canon. So there are a few months in on their last year of middle school.**

 **Chapter 2: First Steps In a Long Road**

Normal Speech: "Howdy folks."

Thoughts/Sounds: 'Howdy folks.'

Izuku shifted in the chair of his desk for the what could easily be the tenth time in barely even a full minute. Some of that could be attributed to his still recovering shoulder, but the true reason was his nervousness. After this class, the school day would end and Izuku would make his way towards his first day of training. It was almost a surreal experience for the green teen, his dream of being a hero had never felt as real as it had now.

But training wasn't the only thing on his mind. If he wasn't occupying his thoughts with possible training regimens or hero tech to assist him in battle, it was the quirky, but kind beauty he had met yesterday, Tsuyu Asui. She was blunt, sometimes brutally so, but she inspired a warmth in Izuku he hadn't felt before. He desperately wanted to see her again. He'd contemplated delaying his walk to pass by her again, but he decided against it. He promised her that he would meet her at UA. He had to take his training seriously. Also he was dead terrified of Kylie beating him senseless. That could be considered a contributing factor.

Izuku, engrossed in his thoughts, hadn't noticed how he had totally numbed out the world around him. The entire day had been him anticipating the afternoon, going over scenarios, writing in his notebook new ideas that popped into his head. He hadn't been paying attention to his classes or his classmates. He'd walked into several walls, tripped over dozens of roots and wet tiles, during gym a baseball hurtled into the tree he sat under and he hardly moved. He certainly didn't acknowledge his concerned teacher.

One person that did notice Midoriya's lack of focus was the blonde bomber himself. Katsuki Bakugou had been in a bad mood since that morning. He was walking along when Izuku made his morning attempt at a hello. Katsuki had his palms bursting with flames by the time Izuku finished his hello, but what happened next stunned him. Izuku brushed him off, blatantly ignoring his threats. The bastard even bumped into him walking away, but dared not to apologize. The blonde was so steamed that he had been paralyzed by his own anger.

That mood followed him through the whole day. Even now, sitting in the front of his last class, he shot glare after glare at his former lackey, gritting his teeth harder each time the quirkless whelp ignored him. Izuku, still oblivious to his own obliviousness, hadn't spared the event a second, or for that matter first, thought. He was more concerned with the eternally delayed bell that seemed to be taunting him with its cruelly slow minute hand.

'Riiiiiiiing.'

At the sound of the bell Izuku practically ran out of his seat, making it to the courtyard before most people had left their class doors. Just before he could walk out however, a hand roughly gripped his wounded shoulder and threw him aside. Izuku looked up to a literary steaming with rage Katsuki. Despite violently throwing our green protagonist, the spiky blonde had an oddly calm face. Bakugou's composure quickly broke into a snarl however.

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE IGNORING ME DEKU?! YOU BETTER LEARN YOUR PLACE BEFORE I REMIND YOU! DON'T THINK I WON'T BEAT YOUR SHIT!" Mid rant, Katsuki seized Izuku by the collar, bringing him to eye level.

Izuku panicked, what was going on! He ignored him when? "What do you mean Kaachan?" Izuku quivered in fear, and his confusion brought him no assistance. But it was at that moment that he noticed something. A strange clarity rung through him. "Kaachan," Izuku looked into his eyes, "Why are you shaking?"

Izuku hadn't thought about what he said before he said it. Kaachan gave no warning, dropping Izuku and lashing out the back of his hand. It to make impact with Midoriya's nose. Izuku's head whipped so fast he felt his brain shake, he brought his hand up to his nose and looked down to see his own blood running down his wrist.

"Izuku," his voice was far calmer than before, but the danger tone was still there, "If you ever talk to me like that again, I'LL CRIPPLE YOU!" Bakugou turned on his heel, and left the gate before students start pouring out of the doors. But Izuku saw something unmistakable. It was only proven by the wet spots on the ground. Katsuki had been crying as he left, and Izuku felt tears of his own come to light. He was wasn't crying from the pain, because what he felt was so much worse. He felt helplessness. Once again, there was nothing he could do to reach his friend.

Just like always. He could never reach Katsuki, because from the day they met Izuku had always been inferior. Compared to Bakugou's natural talent at everything he tried, Izuku had always been a helpless, talentless lackey. Izuku hated that he couldn't reach his friend, as an equal. But he couldn't let that be another obstacle, instead he would add it to his list of ever growing reasons to become a hero.

Izuku stood up, and pushing through the crowd he went the way that he knew Bakugou was going. It hadn't been long since the fiery maniac left, so he had only been around the corner.

"Katsuki," the blond stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around or give any other sign that he acknowledged his once friend. Izuku was not deterred however, "I know you're going to be a great hero, but SO WILL I."

Izuku heard the other boy snort, "And how the fuck is a useless bastard like you going to do that?"

Izuku walked forward until he was right behind the blonde, and he raised his voice, not yelling, but in a tone that wouldn't be ignored. "I'm going to work hard, harder than anyone, harder than you. So one day we will be equals, and I'll make sure that that you can understand me. And for that to happen, I can't back down."

"YOU'RE FULL OF SHIT." Katsuki turned around to look at Izuku, towering over him. "YOU CAN BARELY STAND UP TO A PUPPY ON A LEASH. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'LL DO AGAINST A REAL VILLAIN?!" With that last word, Bakugou turned his back on Izuku.

Izuku fell silent, that was the same question he had asked himself. He never had an answer. The longer he thought about it the more the question echoed in his mind. It ate away at his hope like a cancer. It threaten to kill his dreams before they even took root. All of a sudden Izuku realized how little everything had changed.

From a week ago to know, he hadn't magically developed a quirk, he hadn't suddenly gained some boost in self-confidence, he didn't even start training. Izuku felt like the weight of the world had plopped right back on his shoulders. Looking back, the only change had been a 5 minute encounter with Tsuyu.

Instantly Izuku lifted his head. Tsuyu, just the thought of her was slowly but surely pulling him back. It was like she was there reminding him to keep his promise. It was a gentle warmth in the center of his chest, almost like when you leave your hand in the sun. Izuku let this feeling carry him forward.

Bakugou hadn't moved far from where he was standing, Izuku took hardly three steps to be directly behind Katsuki. Izuku reared his fist back, using his other hand to turn Katsuki around and do the unthinkable. Izuku Midoriya punched Katsuki Bakugou square in the face. Hard enough to draw blood. It dribbled from the corner of his mouth, and Katsuki actually fell on his back.

"I'll do that to a villain." Izuku stood there above his friend for the first time, a flame of defiance in his eyes. Katsuki rose to hit him back but Izuku jumped back and brought his arms up to guard. "From now on it's punch for punch, I'll take everything you throw at me and give it right back."

"I'M GONNA FRY YOUR ASS, DEKU!" Katsuki was furious at being hit by someone so inferior, but he was shocked yet again by the unyielding Midoriya.

"THEN I'LL DO IT AGAIN DAMMIT." Bakugou paused, not used to hearing Deku yell, much less swear. "I'm not as strong as you, but I mean what I say. Deku is the name of a hero, now and forever.

Izuku promptly turned back and rounded the corner to run towards the gym, leaving a stupefied Katsuki behind. He knew that Katsuki could quite literally burn him away but he needed Katsuki to know. No matter what he did, Izuku would always be there trying to hold out his hand.

He might have looked to see what time it was, but he was honestly too afraid of wasting any more time. Getting on Kylie's bad side seemed like poking a sleeping bear. Izuku started running, thinking it would be a good idea with how much time he's already wasted. He was sweating bullets by the time he reached the park he had met Tsuyu at, remembering everything he had said to her embarrassed him, but also motivated him to run faster. He made it to the gym in roughly 20 minutes, but spent another five outside trying to catch his breath. When he felt that his head was no longer spinning he went inside.

Nothing had changed from the afternoon before, maybe a few more people were there seeing as it was a little earlier than the night before. He scanned the crowd and saw Yujiro sending a rush of jabs and swings into a sandbag on the other side of the gym. He made his way over, weaving through the various trainees, and observing some particularly intense sparring matches.

"Hello Yujiro-san."

"Hey there Izuku," Yujiro stopped his combo to greet the young lad. "You're here pretty early. Hey, what happened to your nose?"

The green hero-to-be realized that he hadn't cleaned himself at all, his nose still had a lot of dry blood covering the area. "It was just something at school. Nothing to worry about."

"Well just be careful, there's a changing somewhere near where you came in, so maybe wipe that off while you switch out. You did bring clothes right?"

"Course, I'll be back soon."

It only took a minute for Izuku to get changed. A simple white T with black shorts. Black shoes with red rubber soles. Izuku decided to go basic seeing as he had no definitive routine yet. When he stepped outside Yujiro was clutching his head next to Kylie, who was scolding him.

"What the hell have I told you about leaving my weights all over the place Haruno?"

"Not to do that?"

"Then why are those dumbbells doing in the walkway?"

"Because I forgot."

"Laps. Outside. 10 of 'em."

Yujiro didn't dare to back talk to her before he dashed out of the building and sprinted to the track, well aware of the consequences. Izuku had watched the exchange and felt his fear rise, but he wouldn't let himself be psyched out. He was dedicated to his change, so he stood in front of Kylie, shoulders out and back straight.

"What do I start with Kylie-san."

"Ah, Izuku. So you really came, well let's get started. Take off your shirt."

"Hm," Izuku paused before his eyes widened. "W-w-what do you mean my shirt?"

"What do you want to take off your pants instead?"

"Why am I taking off anything?"

"All this sounds an awful lot like back talk Midoriya." She loomed over him with a malicious aura. Izuku gulped, but Kylie continued, "I need to know how strong you are know so that I can give myself some place to start you with."

Still nervous, Izuku complied, slipping out of his T-shirt. Kylie looked him over, occasionally prodding his doughy chest or soft stomach. Izuku wasn't exactly the type to exercise, and it showed in his pale, bony complexion. Izuku blushed at having to show his body in a gym filled with people, but thankfully no one looked his way.

After a grunt, Kylie spoke, "Kid, I have never seen anyone so skinny in my life. I think I've kick twigs thicker than your waist."

Izuku lowered his head in shame, "Why are all the girls I meet so blunt?" He put his shirt back on, while Kylie entered a thinking pose.

"Alright nappy head," she started, "Punching, blocking, and dodging are gonna be the base of what you learn. When you get a little more advanced I'll teach you how to kick without getting knocked on your ass, and a few sequence techniques, combos and such. But before any of that you need some muscle to make it matter. Start doing push ups, as many as you can. When you finish start on sit-ups, then pull-ups, then squats."

Izuku started after Kylie barked at him for wasting time, and finished in an embarrassingly short time. He was breathing heavily, flat out on the floor, staring at the ceiling when Yujiro came back from his laps.

"11 push-ups," Yujiro jumped at hearing Kylie's voice come from right behind him, she continued on with the list while he stared back at Izuku, "15 sit-ups, and 8 squats. Then he wasted 30 seconds failing to do a single pull-up. And it all took him 15 damned minutes." Kylie sighed in frustration. "Do you know how long he took in between each exercise? Well I don't either, because I was trying to keep myself from fossilizing."

"Um, Kylie," Yujiro looked over to her with concern written on his face. "Izuku passed out."

"Well wake his ass up and tell him to do it all again, but after he runs his five laps. And this time he better do a goddamn pull-up." She walked of to a room in the back, rummaging for something and grumbling about stupid green kids that don't own combs.

This was how Izuku's first day of training went, every time he felt he was on the brink of exhaustion Kylie would pop up to threaten the soul back into him. Yujiro offered the support he could while still maintaining his own routine, and all the while Izuku felt like he was slowly eating away at is own muscles, underdeveloped as they may be. By the time it was over, the sun was setting, a full 4 hours had gone by. Izuku looked like a rag doll that got dropped in several storm drains and was then violently yanked through a cheese grater.

At the end of it, he was too tired to even bother changing back into his old clothes when he was leaving. Yujiro patted him on the back, but had to stop Izuku from falling over immediately after.

"Great job for your first day, you really powered through those last rounds Izuku!" Yujiro's words of kindness would have uplifted Izuku's spirits. But unfortunately, Izuku was less than lucid in his mental faculties at the moment.

"Yujiro?" Izuku had a dazed look in his eye. "Is that you? What are you doing in space, and why the cowboy hat? You should be doing your exercises."

"Uh, Izuku?" Yujiro's concern was evident in his voice. "Are you ok? Do you at least know where you are?"

Before Yujiro could receive a unintelligible response the back of Kylie's hand roughly impacted Izuku's left cheek, "Snap out of it Izuku, I need to give you these before you go." She was as rough as ever, and holding a small box in her hand.

Deftly brought out of his exhausted delusion, Izuku looked into her hands to see black bands with straps that had some rectangular bars hanging on it.

"There ankle and wrist weights. I want you to wear them all the times, even during training. These are light but when you're more used to them I'll move you to heavier and heavier weights. Soon enough, I'll have you on technique training," Kylie spoke with a lazy drawl, but Izuku thought he might have heard excitement in her voice.

"Thanks Kylie." Now fully aware of his surroundings, at least for now, Izuku took the box from her hands.

"Don't thank me yet Izuku. If you think today hurt than tomorrow's going to kill." The promise was delivered with a sadistic smirk, and Izuku quickly put the weights on before leaving the gym to go home. He shivered as he heard Kylie bark orders at some poor trainee slacking off near the sandbags.

The trip was quite, a bit longer with the weights slowing him down, but Izuku was too tired to think about it. Soon enough, Izuku did make it home, walking in with all the grace of the dead. He had assured his mother that he was alright, and not dying of exhaustion. She eventually let him go after making sure he had a good something to eat. Even after the meal Izuku was barely mobile. He brushed his teeth but skipped the shower entirely. He dropped like a weight in his bed, letting the darkness claim him, ultimately satisfied with his work.

Before he totally faded from consciousness he said to himself, "I promise to you, Tsuyu-chan, I'll meet you again at U.A. I'll be your and Bakugou's equal, just watch." He was changing, day by day in little and subtle ways. He promised to become a hero, on his life and more. He wouldn't be stopped by anything.

* * *

Somewhere else, deeper in the city was a dilapidated building, looking ready to collapse at a gentle breeze. The cobblestone structure was worn and chipped all over, and a sigh that might have told the building's name or purpose had long since let the letters fade away. If not for the faint light glowing from the broken windows, no one would no the place was inhabited. Within the abandoned bar sat a grey-haired boy, he looked to be in his late teens, a slim build covered by a black shirt that reached his wrists and blue jeans. He sat with a video game in his hand, fingers mashing at the buttons, while a strangled cry sirened off from his left. He sighs as he tears his eyes away from the screen to glared at the man tied up in the corner.

"I just died," he limply flashed the screen to the man's face to emphasize his point, "Because you keep whining."

The man cried again, on the verge of panic as the grey-haired boy stalked towards him. "That's the second time now." A touch of irritation entered his voice. "If you don't keep quiet I'll turn you into dust." He gripped the man's throat, keeping his pinky just above the skin.

Just then the door opened. In stepped two men of tall stature. The one on the left was dressed like a typical bartender, but his face, and the rest of his head, was engulfed in billowing smoke. All the resembled a normal human face were two glaring yellow eyes, more like the eyes of a mask than the real thing. The other man was in a snappy suit, buttoned up to the neck. The collar disappeared under an intricately designed helmet, with brass rows that built upwards, before stopping at a tinted glass dome. It concealed all of his features, but the play of light and shadow on the surface almost looked like a skull.

"Tomura," the man in the suit stepped past the pair to take a seat at the bar, resting his palm against the casing of his glass jar. "Don't kill him yet," he spoke with a lazy tone but it was enough. The grey-haired boy released his grip, dropping the man to the floor with a thud, "Now Mister Sazaki, if you would please tell us what we need to know, we will happily let you go."

"I told you everything," the man pleaded. "Please, I have a family."

"Oh we are well aware." The man motioned to the one dressed as a bartender. "Would you like to see them?"

The other man, who had moved to behind the bar, nodded his head almost imperceptibly. Suddenly the air in front of Tomura shifted, a swirling black vortex opened up and from it dropped a brown-haired woman, clutching a bundle in her arms. She was clearly shocked as to what happened, before she could react Tomura grabbed her by the neck, once again minding that he keep his pinky off of her. She struggled in his grip but he only held on tighter. He clicked his teeth under his hood, getting annoyed with the struggle. He quickly lightened his grip when motioned to by the man under the mask.

"Thank you Kurogiri, now if you would fix the woman a drink. Oh and Shigaraki, untie the gentleman." The two followed the orders without a second's hesitation. The grey haired boy let go of the women to touch all five fingers to the rope. It disintegrated upon contact. Sazaki took in a deep breath, rushing to his wife. The now named Kurogiri placed a glass of water on the counter.

"I might give you something alcoholic, but this seems like a poor time to be inebriated, especially with an infant present." The man's voice seemed to vibrate out of the black mist, and didn't settle two hostages nerves.

"Why are you doing this?" The mother spoke in a weak voice, from her frayed clothes and matted hair she had been in their custody for a fair while.

"We already told your husband." The masked man stood up and strode to the women, lowering himself to her level with his hands clasped behind his back, "I want the information he has. As soon as I have it, you will both be released."

"Hojo, just tell them, our son is getting sicker. We've been here for weeks." She had begun to cry, yet the child in her arms remained eerily silent.

The man had his arms around both his wife and son. He shifted his head to look at his son, sickly pale and barely moving. He nearly broke down. Without the strength to even lift his head he conceded, "I heard of someone that fit the description, she's supposed to be somewhere in Tokyo. But she keeps a low profile, she doesn't make big waves, I swear to god that's all I know. Please let us go already." Now the man was truly begging, on his knees with his head touching the ground.

"I believe you," the masked man rose, his tone as even as ever. "I think we can let them go now."

Both of the captured dared breath a sigh of relief, but that was all. In the blink of an eye, Shigaraki was upon them both, they didn't even scream before they were scattered to ashes. The bundle dropped from the women's arms but before impacting the ground, another small portal opened to transport him into the waiting arms of Kurogiri.

Tomura straightened himself out, turning towards his leader and mentor, "Are we going to catch another one now?" His raspy voice posed the question to All For One, accompanied by a casual shrug.

"No, the man was being completely honest."

"Then why have us kill him?"

"It was almost guaranteed that he would alert the authorities of our location if we released him." He spoke like a teacher to his student. "We don't need that, not at this stage of the plan. I believe our work is done for the night, feel free to do as you please."

Tomura was about to leave out the door, putting his hood up to mask his scarred face when he stopped, as if remembering something. "Before you came, he said something. That woman, she goes by the name Kylie now." The masked man let out a satisfied hum at that bit of information. Then Tomura closed the door behind him, hands in his pockets as he walked into the night.

At the same time, Kurogiri carried the child in his arms to his leader, tenderly rocking him as if he hadn't just helped orphan the lad.

"What do I do with the child All For One?" The leader of their trio looked to the maker of the black mist with bewilderment.

"Drop him off at a hospital of course." A dark chuckle emanated from the dark orb that covered his face. "The mother did say the poor boy was getting sick, and we're not monsters after all."

 **Just so everyone knows, Izuku will get One For All in this story. This is all a year before his canon encounter with the sludge villain. It will be a few more chapters until that so enjoy the ride till then. Also I gonna try and update every two weeks on Saturdays, so you have my rough schedule.**

 **Sooooo….PEACE OUT PEOPLE OF THE WORLD!**


	3. Chapter 3: Building Bridges

Chapter 3: A Building Bridges

Sorry about the late update, but the site had some problems this morning. Anyway thanks for all those subscribers, all those favorites, and a special thank you to all those comments.

Normal Speech: "Howdy folks."

Thoughts/Sounds: 'Howdy folks.'

Midoriya rested his chin on his palm, his notebook opened to one of his last fresh pages. He would need to buy a few more soon. He was scribbling down some design ideas for his hero costume. Normally he wouldn't do this out in the open due to the fact that Katsuki would often try to set the pages on fire, but it seemed that wasn't the case anymore. Ever since Izuku punched Kaachan back he had been checking his corners, making sure the bomber blond wasn't coming to demolish him, yet nothing of the sort happened. Katsuki was by no means making nice, but he wasn't obsessively violent either, if anything he was being indifferent to Izuku. He would respond to Izuku's good mornings with a grunt of acknowledgment or nothing at all, but there were no threats, no angry roars, no new burn marks to litter Izuku's body. Midoriya was comfortably unharassed the whole week.

Despite Bakugou's apparent change in demeanor, Izuku was weary. People don't change so quickly. Kaachan especially wasn't the sort to just give up, certainly not to his old whipping boy Deku. Nevertheless, Izuku enjoyed this new peace, and he couldn't help but relax a little. After adding some new notes to what the material for his armor should be, the bell rang and Izuku walked with the crowd of students towards the exit.

At the fencing of the school, in between the iron rod gates, he crossed Katsuki's path. The two of them hesitated for a moment before the taller of the two walked away without so much as a nod. Izuku sighed, wondering if he should reach out. He mulled it over, but thought better of it.

'Nothing I tell him will matter until I say it as an equal.' It hurt to think he was still helpless but Izuku understood that patience was necessary. Izuku turned away and instead of walking towards the gym, he sat at a bus stop just across the school. He planned a little excursion deeper into the city. There would be plenty of heroes to observe and new strategies he could develop by seeing them in action.

Izuku thought about waiting for Tsuyu, but he just couldn't. With everything he had promised, seeing her now, before he made more progress, felt a little embarrassing to him. He wanted her to see him as something more than what he saw himself. The girl had left a lasting impression on the him, even now his face took a rosy hue at the thought of her. Funny considering they had only ever spoken for five minutes. For one of those minutes her friend had paralyzed him. Izuku wanted to bury his face into his palms just thinking of how stupid he acted when they had met. Then again, he was glad to have met her at all. Izuku always seemed to come back to Tsuyu in his private thoughts. Izuku pondered if it was because she was the first girl he had really talked to, but shook his head. It was something more. Something that had him smiling without meaning too, and he didn't really mind how often he thought of her.

He had no further time to ponder it before the bus pulled up, he quickly dropped his change into the coin slot before going to the back, still lost in in his thoughts. He was so immersed that he almost didn't notice the tapping on his shoulder. He felt embarrassed at blatantly ignoring the person that was trying to get his attention, so he had a full blown panic attack when he turned his head to a familiar head of green-tinted black hair.

"TSUYU-CHAN," Izuku blurted out far louder than he meant to, "What are you doing, I mean obviously you're on the bus to go somewhere but where to? Unless it's something you don't want to say. Am I being too invasive?" The line of questioning had been so rapid-fire that Tsuyu had to blinked owlishly before fully understanding what the green youth said.

"It's not too invasive, but you shouldn't yell like that on the bus." Her demeanor was her typical bluntness with an iota of amusement.

"Yeah," he replied with a forced chuckle. "I tend to forget about that kinda stuff when I'm nervous."

"What do you have to be nervous about?"

"WHAT? Nothing, I was just, uh..." Izuku paused to think, eager to change the subject, "Thinking about what I should do first once I get to the city. There were a few things on my list but I don't have much of a plan."

"Well you could come with me and my siblings to a hero showcase. There's supposed to be a new comer, Mt. Lady."

"Oh, I've heard of her." Izuku relaxed now that the conversation was veering into more familiar territory. "Did you plan on meeting your siblings there?"

"No, they're on the bus," she stated in a way that made it seem like an obvious fact. "They're right in front of you."

Izuku was confused. He knew he had gotten onto the bus with his head in the clouds but he would have noticed them sitting in the seat in front wouldn't he? He turned to face directly in front of him and the seat was empty. Before he could ask Tsuyu what she meant, he noticed a two swinging strands of hair seeming coming down from what appeared to be the roof of the bus. Izuku followed the hairs upward and then barely an inch of space existed between him and a pair of eyes eerily similar to Tsuyu.

"AHH," Izuku rammed himself into his seat to gain distance from the unknown entity attached to the roof.

"Come down from there Satsuki," Asui croaked to the ceiling. "You too Samidare."

Following her command, two figures dropped from the ceilings into the seat in front of the green teens before turning to look at Izuku. Midoriya noticed the immediate similarities to Tsuyu easily. The somewhat unreadable expression was more apparent in the girl, who he presumed to be Satsuki, but the young boy had it as well. All three of the frog-like siblings had black hair with a green tint, but unlike Midoriya theirs were well groomed. Large hands, eyes as dark as a night sky, and both much younger than Tsuyu.

"Hey sis," Samidare spoke without looking away from Izuku, "Is this the guy that you said you met at the park."

Izuku blushed knowing that she had spoken about him to her family, but Tsuyu either didn't notice or didn't concern herself with it, "Yes, now introduce yourself, it's rude to skip introductions you know?"

"I'm Samidare" he gave the peace sign before turning around and pulling out a pocket game console.

The youngest of the sibling trio then spoke up, "I'm Satsuki, nice to meet you." She had two red circles on her cheeks, like she was embarrassed.

"Nice to meet you too, I'm Izuku." He shifted so that he wasn't buried into his seat, properly looking the youngest in the eye.

"Are you coming with us to the hero thing?" She was just slightly more expressive than Tsuyu, and Izuku was appreciative of this, not sure if he could take yet another unapologetically blunt person in his life as of now."

"Yeah," Izuku responded kindly, "I have a free day from training so I'll definitely come along." Satsuki smiled at that, and Izuku, for his part, was somewhat shocked that any of the trio was capable of smiling at all.

"How is the training going by the way?" Izuku turned to face Tsuyu, sunken eyes wide in remembrance. Midoriya's body leaned forward as if the strength was being drained from him by his thoughts.

"The training is intense," he let his eyes relax, sitting up straight to look her in the eye, "But it's worth every second."

"I'm glad to hear it, you need to keep your promise after all." Tsuyu gave him a slight smile and Izuku gave one back, accompanied by a blush.

"You don't have to worry," Izuku was unable to take his eyes off her. "I keep my promises."

There was so much more Izuku wanted to say to her, but he couldn't remember it all with her so close. Likewise, Tsuyu looked like she wanted to say something as well. Somehow, the ever stoic Tsuyu was flustered, still staring into the green eyes of her friend. They stayed like that for a little while, staring at each other, both on the edge of saying something to the other.

"Are you two dating?" The question was innocently posed by Satsuki, and the pair of teenagers turned to her rather quickly.

"WHAT, what made you say something like that?" Izuku was thoroughly embarrassed at how long he had just sat there gazing into Tsuyu's eyes. So much so that he didn't notice her own light blush. Her disappeared quickly however, as she pointed to the front of the bus.

"This is our stop." Tsuyu blatantly ignored the question, grabbing her sister and brother by the wrist and waiting at the door of the bus for Izuku, who had lagged behind to bury his face in his hands.

As soon as they stepped off the bus Izuku noticed another familiar face. "Sup creeper." Wild red hair and a snake-like visage greeted Midoriya with a smile, to the best of her abilities.

"Hiya Habuko-san, are you coming to the expo too." Izuku was a little perturbed by her greeting, but not unused to the interesting characters that he seemed to attract lately.

"That's right," I want to see if there are any cool new heroes." She responded with enthusiasm. "You never know when you'll find a hero looking for an intern."

"So you want to be a hero too Habuko?" Izuku was curious. He didn't know much about any of them but he considered them friends. He wanted to know them better.

"That's right, one day I'll be up there with the greats. My quirk makes me pretty good with capture tactics."

"Hey, what is your quirk by the way?" Midoriya tilted his head slightly as he asked. "I only felt you paralyze me but how does that work."

"My quirk is that I can stare at someone and totally freeze them. It normally only lasts for 3 seconds, but I can make it last longer if I try really hard, like how I froze you in the park."

"Why did you freeze me." They had started walking towards a large dome-topped building, with Tsuyu walking a little bit ahead to watch her siblings. "Did I really look all that threatening?"

"No," Habuko blushed lightly, a hard feat to accomplish for one with scales. "It's just that Tsuyu is my first friend. I don't know what I would do without her. When I saw you acting all excited and I got worried you might be some weirdo."

Izuku nervously chuckled, "Sorry, but she told me something that made me happy." Izuku looked down a little, thinking about that day. "To be honest, I don't have too many friends either."

"Why?" Habuko asked aloud, somewhat incredulous at the claim. She wouldn't come out and say it but Izuku was good looking enough. From what she could tell he was a nice guy too. What could make him so shunned among others?

"I don't have a quirk, none at all. And if I'm being honest, I'm not talented at anything." Izuku could feel Habuko's surprise look but he continued. "Everywhere I went people looked down on me or pitied me. I wasn't worth anyone's time, I was a joke. The only friend I ever had got an amazing quirk, and then…" Izuku was getting uncomfortable at this point. Reliving bad memories was getting kinda painful. "The point is no one thought I could do anything. They even gave me a nickname for it; Deku the useless."

"What about your mom and dad?" Habuko was almost afraid to ask, not sure if she even should. Surely someone must have had his back.

"I don't know where my dad is, but mom never liked talking about him. She was always there for me though. I remember the day we were told I didn't have a quirk, she held me and just kept apologizing for not being able to give me a quirk." Izuku stopped in his tracks, he felt too heavy to move now, Habuko stopped with him. Tsuyu who was still ahead of them kept forward, holding her brother from running ahead.

"Izuku, are you okay?" Habuko never thought that the boy next to her carried that kind of weight with him. So she didn't expected him to smile when she asked him. It was not a sad smile, or an insincere one to hide the pain. This was a warm bright smile that radiated hope.

"I am, because of Tsuyu." Izuku was watching that particular frog-like girl as he said it. "Before that day, no one had ever said that they believed in me. It was always an apology or someone offering pity. All I ever wanted was for someone to say that they believed in me, that I could follow my dream."

"Yeah, Tsuyu seems to be there when you need her to be. It's one of those qualities of hers, I only wish that more people would see that in her." Habuko tone was warm and nostalgic. "So what is your dream?"

Izuku turned to her and said it with pride, "I'm going to be the number one hero, the kind that can save anyone and never give up!"

"Well, I guess we are in competition." Habuko stood as if to challenge Izuku, and he stood the same.

"You bet we are." Izuku said as a challenge but he couldn't stop himself from smiling. From relighting his hope to introducing him to good friends, he really needed to thank Tsuyu. Izuku then balked when he realized something. He turned quickly, surveying everything in his surroundings, before facing Habuko. "Where's Tsuyu, Samidare, and Satsuki?"

Habuko's arms dropped from her pose before she too deadpanned. "Crap."

* * *

In front of a familiar gym stood a man who seemed to be waiting at the door. He was average height, and a slender build. His black hair fell past his shoulders into messy waves, and he had droopy tired eyes. Combined with his scratchy facial hair and he looks lazily put together, like he was just waking up. He leaned against the outside of the building, waiting for someone it seemed. Suddenly the door was opened by Yujiro in his typical shorts and T-shirt.

"Kylie is in her office." The brown haired boy looked at the man seriously, his social calls normally came with alcohol or gifts. Today, he was here for business.

"Thanks Haruno-san." The black haired man calmly walked towards the door with Yujiro behind him. The gym was empty, and the blinds were closed. Anyone looking in wouldn't see anything, and the only light was coming from the back office. He opened the door, and there sat Kylie at her desk looking deathly serious, without her usual sense of amusement.

"Aizawa," she greeted. "What brings you here?" She was unusually still, like a patient waiting for a doctor to give them the worst new they could hear.

"Villain activities have increased in the Tokyo area." Aizawa Shota was speaking with a tired tone, adding to his 'I just woke up' appearance. "Some notable people have gone missing, specifically ones that knew something about you."

"I've heard." Kylie didn't sound concerned or even worried, just tired.

"Then you now what is coming," Aizawa spoke a little louder. "You know who is coming."

"I know. All For One is going to capture me whether I'm hiding or not." She rose her voice to match his, Yujiro took a step or two forward feeling the rise in tension.

"We could try to stop him. There are other ways to do this Kylie." Shota's eyes were not as tired as they use to be, and his voice was a growl almost.

"They would all fail." Kylie ran her hand through her gray hair, taking a deep breath as she did. "I've thought about this for years, don't forget that it's my life he's after. I know what I'm doing."

"Why can't we tell Toshinori then." Shota slammed his hands on the desk. "He's strong enough to do something too!"

"I WILL NOT HAVE HIM GET DRAGGED INTO THIS FIGHT!" Kylie stood up to stare level into Aizawa's eyes. Yujiro got in between the two of them but he was ignored. The two never broke eye contact.

"HE'S A HERO, HE KNOWS WHAT HE DOING," Aizawa defended.

"HE'S ANOTHER ONE OF MY VICTIMS, AND I CAN'T HURT HIM AGAIN!" Kylie's eye leaked a tear onto her desk, she had lowered her head to avoid looking him in the eye.

Shota backed away, and Yujiro backed down to his position off to the side. "Do you think that hiding yourself away like this isn't hurting him. Maybe All Might always has his smile, but Toshinori will always hurt thinking he let you die." He glared at his elder, but she could no longer meet his eyes.

"Is there anything else?" Kylie was too drained to be angry anymore and Shota couldn't bare to put her through anymore.

"A child was left at the hospital recently." Shota looked down. "The boy was an infant, and severely malnourished. He is stable now and someone was able to identify him as a son of their neighbors, Sakaki and his wife. Police have determined that they were kidnapped, and probably killed. They started looking for bodies a few days ago, but no one knows where to look."

"I doesn't matter, All For One's student won't have left a body." Kylie shivered, keeping down the bile rising in her stomach. "He never does."

* * *

After half an hour of searching, Izuku and Habuko finally found the Asui siblings, waiting at the entrance of the expo with drinks in hand.

Samidare was the first to greet the duo, still hunched over from racing around to find their group, "Where were you guys?"

"We are were looking all over for you three," said Izuku who had already caught his breath. He looked over to Habuko, still heaving with her hands on her knees. 'I guess I have made a little progress with my training. I even have my weights on still.'

"Well we were right here, guess you coulda just come straight here." Samidare hadn't looked up from his game console. If he had he might have dodged the fist that impacted squarely on his forehead. A seemingly recovered Mongoose had roughly punched the boy.

"Watch how you talk," she still breathed heavy as she picked him up by the collar. "We were running all over looking for you."

"It's not my fault you can't use common sense." The youngest male of the group was still trying to mouth back, it was the most expressive Izuku had seen a member of the Asui family behave.

This back and forth continued while Izuku made his way to Tsuyu. "Do you think we should stop this," he asked.

"No," Tsuyu waved her hand at the suggestion. "They do this pretty often. It's just how they communicate."

The group of five walked into the expo, Samidare and Habuko arguing every step, Izuku wondering if he was about to witness a fight, and Tsuyu and Satsuki completely ignoring the bickering pair. They found their seats in the back and waited for it to start. Izuku sat on the edge of the group with his notebook out, looking ready to document the whole event.

As it was the girl next to him had the same idea. She had her own pencil and pad but unlike Izuku she wasn't waiting for anyone. She furiously scribbled notes from out of the blue, hardly breathing. She looked up to brush her pink locks out of her eyesight when she noticed Izuku's notebook in his lap. Fast as lightning she turned to Izuku himself, who happened to be thoroughly uncomfortable with how intensely this pink haired girl was staring at him. The fact that her yellow eyes had literal cross-hares in them didn't alleviate his stress.

"So you're here to take notes as well?" Izuku was less perturbed by the seemingly innocent question, and even a little curious about her. It wasn't often, or ever, that he met someone as dedicated to documentation as himself.

"Yeah," he spoke quietly, "I'm came here with friends to see the new up and coming hero Mt. Lady."

"Me too, except for the friends part." She sounded very hyper, like she was constantly on a sugar rush. "I'm here because I want to see what kind of material her clothes are made of."

"Huh?"

"Her quirk is rapid growth from 162 cm to 2062 cm. Any material that can maintain its shape after rapid stretching and compression like that is definitely durable enough for my next invention." She spoke at some high speeds but it was nothing Izuku couldn't match.

"That's a pretty incredible quirk," Izuku was entering his own rapid fire geek mode. "The material isn't just durable if it can handle that, it's super elastic. Retaining shape after growing to that size, do you think it's thread weave of lots of different polymers?"

"It has to be, no one material could stand that kind of force and retain all those properties." Her eyes were wide now, she obviously hadn't met to many people as interested in this sort of thing as her.

They continued their conversation, getting more excited and speaking faster and louder until Habuko and Samidare stopped their arguing to stare at them. Eventually the entire back three rows stopped to stare at the pair. If you looked close enough you could see Tsuyu was getting jealous. She was mildly glaring at the bubbly pink teen, though one wouldn't notice if they didn't know her well enough.

"Izuku," she said loudly, breaking the constant stream of what had become incomprehensible chatter, "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, I guess I forgot to ask your name." Izuku rubbed his head nervously.

"I'm Mei Hatsume, future engineer of the greatest tech ever." She held out her hand to shake Izuku's. He took her hand in his own and to his credit didn't faint at the contact of a girl.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya, and these are my friends, Tsuyu, Samidare, Habuko, and Satsuki." He motioned to each one respectively.

The lights dimmed down to a fade and the stage curtains opened at that moment. They all sat in comfortable silence, but Izuku nearly had a heart attack when Tsuyu put her had atop his own. It stayed there the whole time, and Izuku sat there so happy he forgot to take notes. It was a nice time, and they even opened up the ceiling to allow Mt. Lady to show off her quirk. Izuku would remember it as the first time he went out with friends and didn't get ridiculed the whole time. Once it was over Hatsume ran to the back stage to get a personal Q&A session with the hero herself, while the rest of the gang left to catch the bus and get back home.

The ride was nearly over when Izuku turned to face Tsuyu. "Tsuyu-chan, I want to tell you something."

She was taken aback, and despite not changing her expression, she was nervous to hear what he said. "What is it Midoriya-chan?"

"Thank you." It was simple to her, but for Izuku it meant a million a one things.

"Don't worry, the expo was really fun with everyone." She smiled at him, "I glad that you could come."

"I'm not just thanking you for the expo." She looked confused at that. "Before you, no one ever believed that I could become a hero, not my class, not my mom, and soon enough I was gonna stop believing in me too. If it wasn't for you I might have given up and I just…" Izuku put his hand over his eye but the tears came running down his cheeks anyway. "I can never tell you how much that means to me."

"Then make it up to me." Izuku opened his eye just in time to see Tsuyu give him a hug, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Make sure you become a great hero so that we can work together, me you and Habuko."

Izuku smiled and hugged her back. "It's a promise."

They stayed like that for a few seconds. It was brief but something they both appreciated. The silence was of course broken by Satsuki.

"How come you didn't answer me when I asked if you were dating?"

"Hey Izuku, Is this your stop?" Tsuyu asked a bit faster and louder then she meant to.

"I think so, see you again someday, bye." Izuku couldn't have been more embarrassed if he tried. He stumbled off the bus and hastily ran towards his neighborhood.

He was home before he knew it. He ate dinner with his mother for once, blushing as she prodded for details, 'Who is this Tsuyu you say' and 'I didn't know you were going to a hero expo'. By the time Izuku went to sleep he was wound back down to his normal self. "Tomorrow is the start of my next week of training."

As he lay in bed, Kylie thought from a few miles away. 'Izuku, you have no idea how badly the world is going to need you. I wish it didn't and that you wouldn't have to go through everything you will, but I can't stop it. All I can do is prepare you for the worst.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Howdy, it's me, your friendly neighborhood author. I hope you like the chapter and that you continue to read the story and leave comments and such. We're close to 100 followers, which might not be a lot compared to some of the really great stories on this website, but damn am I proud.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any character's except for OCs. Everything belongs to their respective creators.**

 **Chapter 4: Change On The Horizon**

Normal Speech: "Howdy folks."

Thoughts: 'Howdy folks.'

Izuku left his school with a longer stride than normal. He didn't want to be caught in the swarm of middle schoolers trying to get home. After he was a fair distance from the campus he would start his run. He could make it to the gym in 10 ten minutes now, as opposed to his original 20 something. He was especially proud of the fact that he didn't spend 5 minutes wheezing outside after his runs. It was surprising progress considering he had only been going to the gym for about 3 weeks. Then again, with someone as intense as Kylie training him, it was a given that he would shape up, or get suffer the consequences.

Kylie hadn't let up the slightest on his training, in fact it had only gotten more intense, and she had started him on weight training along with his normal routine. Izuku's small frame wasn't quite made for lifting weights, but it didn't stop him from trying his hardest. His hard work showed, and he was making some shocking progress. He was close to being able to benching his own weight. Not a great feat, he was fairly light to begin with, but it was a show of progress for someone that struggled to push a tire a few weeks prior.

But his weight training wasn't limited to the gym, true to her word she kept increasing his ankle and wrist weights too, 5 pounds at a time each. Izuku wasn't sure what the materials were made of, but it was super dense. Each wrist was 15 pounds, but they didn't even show under his jacket, and his ankle weights were something like 20 pounds each. Izuku only took them off for showers and baths, but he could feel the difference. At the end of each day he could hardly stand. He started icing his wrists and ankles for all the hood it would do. Still, he told himself, it's a small price to pay for all the headway he was making.

Izuku never complained. Like a soldier he carried on, and his hard work was paying off. He was starting to develop some actual muscles. Nothing you would notice with him wearing his school uniform, but they were there. Izuku felt more confident, aside from his neurotic nervousness compulsion deciding to rear their ugly heads every ten minutes. Still, his physical progress was worth note. Even Kylie had conceded him a congratulations, in her own special way.

'I can start beating you up for real. I don't have to worry about breaking you anymore.' Izuku shivered thinking of her smiling oh so sadistically. Sometimes the woman had no empathy. Still it was a small comfort that Kylie wouldn't attack with the intent to permanently damage, unlike a certain profane bomber.

Speaking of whom, Izuku looked to his far right to see Katsuki skulking away from the rest of the crowd to make his way home. Izuku breathed heavily out his nose before exiting the crowd and starting his run. Katsuki was still on his quest to ignore Izuku, but Izuku only took it as more motivation to train harder and gain his acknowledgement. That and of course Tsuyu, if Izuku had ever blushed harder than at that hug, he couldn''t remember it. He was even more bombarded with thoughts of Tsuyu than even before. The moment he thought he say a flash of green or her wide eyes Midoriya would make a scrambled attempt to control his rat's nest of hair. Once he had ducked under a couple having coffee to dust off his jacket. It had turned out to be a colorfully dressed U.A. student.

Izuku quickened his pace, he would get to the gym extra early. Today promised to be exciting and painful, because Kylie was going to start him on sparring with Yujiro. Izuku had been put through plenty of muscular and endurance training for a while now, but today he was going to get some real training. Izuku meant to get there and through the exercises as soon as possible, leaving all the rest for sparring.

* * *

Aizawa Shouta was a patient man. He was an intelligent man. For all that he had done to keep the citizens of his city safe, he was a good man. So, it never failed to surprise him when incredibly violent thoughts came to mind when he was next to his colleague and friend. Present Mic had a quirk that was perfect for his personality, loud and undeniable.

"Let's go get some drinks my man," Yamada bellowed from quite closely to Eraserhead's ear.

"Did you even hear me," Aizawa asked in a strained tone.

"Yeah," the loud blond was apparently oblivious to his old classmate's tone, or twitching eye. "You needed to know where All-Might was, right?" Aizawa nodded so stiffly that his neck cracked. "He's a few floors up talking to Principal Nezu."

"Why didn't you say so before we got on the elevator to go downstairs?" Aizawa wasn't one to raise his voice without a real need, but even Present Mic was taking notice of the growing volume, as well as the pulsing vein on his pal's forehead.

"Isn't it obvious," Present Mic threw his arms out, "I need someone to drink with me buddy."

"I'm going to go now." Aizawa promptly turned back to the elevator, ignoring his friends noisy goodbyes and the chuckles of a few other teachers.

Aizawa loosened his body in the elevator, but he was far from relaxed. His thoughts were still hung up with Kylie and Yujiro. Why did she have to be so adamant about keeping Toshinori out of this? Perhaps she saw him as a kid but the rest of the world knew him as All-Might, the symbol for peace. He had earned his place, time and time again, as a hero. Even after he sustained those injuries from All For One, All-Might was the beacon of hope for all the world. He let out a sighed, that was exactly why she doesn't want All-Might involved.

Kylie was a hero, one of the greatest. She had taken on so many missions, and each one took its toll on her. With everything she had seen, how could she possibly handle adding another body onto her conscience.

The elevator door opened, before Aizawa could make to get off in stepped the very person he was looking for.

"Aizawa," All-Might was in his regular form, a thin wiry frame with a mop of yellow hair, and hollow eyes. "What brings you here?"

"I came to tell you about an update to the Sakaki case." Aizawa led All-Might to a balcony a few rooms over from the cafeteria. "The police have been looking everywhere for anything that could point them towards All For One and Shimura." All-Might grimaced at the names. "They combed through the child's blanket looking for clues. The one that was left at the hospital. It had microscopic fragments of asbestos on it."

"Asbestos?" He looked at Aizawa inquisitively. "They haven't used that in buildings since I was a child."

"It's what they found." Aizawa spoke with his usual bored drawl. "The only places that would still have it are the abandoned sections of Tokyo or the shipyards. They think the villains either held them in an older building, or…"

"Or that's where they are keeping themselves holed up. A villain hideout in the dying city sections. Exactly what we'd expect, the last placed we would look." Yoshinori pick up his volume, turning towards his comrade, "Have they started searching?"

Aizawa detected the anxious tone in All-Might's voice, but he didn't point it out. "They have, but it's going to take a while. People still live there, no many, but enough. A large scale evacuation would tip them off and this is the first time in a while we've known were they might be."

The number one hero clicked his teeth and sighed. "We have to make sure they feel secure there. If anything sets them off they could disappear again. Decrease hero activity if we have-" Suddenly he crumbled into himself, spitting, or rather spraying, a worrying amount of blood.

"Toshinori," Aizawa reached out, but he was stopped by a raised palm. "How bad is it getting?" All-Might's injury at the hand of All For One was getting worse, Aizawa knew it.

"We need to find All For One soon," he stood back up wiping the blood of his chin. "My body is deteriorating faster than ever. I think," All-Might looked up, afraid own what he would have to say, "I'll have to pass on the torch soon."

"Are you sure."

All-Might looked deadly serious. "I wish I wasn't."

"Well, that is cause for alarm." Both heroes turned around, All-Might shifting into his buff form. They relaxed at the sight of a small white bear-mouse with a scar running over it's right eye. "If the symbol of peace was to go away then people would panic. I could only imagine what would happen to crime rates."

"Nezu-san," Aizawa started, "There's been an update in the Sakaki case."

"Oh, I heard everything," he waved his padded palm at the Pro-Hero. "These ears are for more than show. I'm quite surprise however. I came to tell you that the Yakuza have been more active recently. One in particular." The small principal producer a folder from seemingly nowhere. "He goes by the name Overhaul, which happens to be his quirk.

Aizawa opened the folder a read through, All-Might doing the same over his shoulder. It was a young man, dark brown hair and coal black eyes. "His quirk is quite dangerous, disassemble and reassemble anything he touches."

"His quirk is dangerous, yes. But his ideology is what's concerning us."

"He thinks that Heroes are a sickness." All-Might sounded horrified. "He's been killing them off one by one, leaving stains, if anything at all."

Nezu took in a deep breathe, "Speaking of stains, the hero killer has upped his body count yet again." Yet another folder was pulled from nothing and handed to the heroes.

"Stain: The Hero Killer, I remember him," Aizawa grim tone didn't indicate pleasant memories. "He nearly took my head off. He did a lot worse to others."

Toshinori pounded his fist into the railing, leaving a sizeable dent. " **Why are all of these villains popping up now**? **Why are they getting so extreme**? **What can we do to stop all of this?"**

Aizawa wanted to console him, but there was nothing to say for it all. Too many villains were popping up, and each one seemed to create followers everywhere they went. It wasn't just All-Might losing hope, heroes all over Tokyo were getting disillusioned by it. Most of them had only been in it for the money anyway, they were never really going to risk their lives for this job.

"Don't start losing it now Toshinori," Nezu turned on his heel. "Life looks bleakest when things are just of the cusp of improving. At least that's what I told myself when I was getting experimented on." With that sobering note, the principal of U.A. strode down the hall leaving the two heroes on the balcony.

Toshinori deflated to his true form, head still hanging low. "I hope you're right Nezu. This world needs more than just me now."

* * *

Oh how Izuku regretted finishing his exercises early. Kylie gave him his regular routine as soon as he stepped through the door. Laps, bodyweight exercises, and then weights. The very second he racked the irons Kylie had slung him into the mat by his arm.

"Never let your guard down. That's you new life motto, got it." Kylie watched Izuku reached to pull himself up before the ground from under him disappeared. Kylie had thrown him to the other side of the ring. "Everything you think about fighting is wrong," she declared, leaving no room for argument, "I'm going to build you build you up, but first were going to tear down what you used to believe." She took up a pose, arms held up in front of her like a wall. Enough room existed for her to see what was in front of her, but no one but a top tier fighter could have broken her guard.

Izuku took in all the little details, trying to mimic her stance. He was about to question what she would have him do, but in an instant she closed the gap between them. Izuku's rushed defense was put to the test as flurries of jabs and straights bombarded on his arms. To his credit he was holding strong, even as some of the strikes went to his chest and stomach. Izuku was a quick learner however. He wasn't panicking, though he wasn't perfectly calm either. Instead he started weaving, he even managed to avoid a few shots, but Kylie was quick to learn his rhythm. Izuku withstood the attack for a good minute or so, of course it felt much longer.

Suddenly, Kylie disappeared from his view. Izuku stumbled forward as he had been pushing to against the onslaught to avoid falling down. Faster than he could react, an ungloved fist impacted the side of his head at blistering speed. Izuku's head was shaking so intensely he never noticed that he was on the floor.

"Alright Izuku," Kylie spoke as if she hadn't just ragdolled another human being, "What are the advantages and disadvantages of the peekaboo stance."

Izuku took a ragged breath as he stood back up, waiting for the room to stop moving. "What? What do you mean?"

"I came at you with the peekaboo guarding position, what advantage did it give me, what disadvantage did it give you."

Izuku paused to think on it, and looked down to his aching arms. His hand raising to feel his right temple. His winced at his own touch. "Well, the position of your arms let you guard as soon as you were done attacking, and I was doing pretty well defending your front assault."

"Yeah," Kylie snorted, "If you think so nappy."

Izuku faulted a bit at the clear implication that he did so horribly, but continued with his assessment. "The guard blindsighted me though. When I was still expecting a frontal assault you had slipped into my guard on the side."

"That's a pretty good analysis, but you're missing something," she spoke in a singing sort of voice, which deeply upset Izuku, causing him to unknowingly curl back into a guard stance.

"W-What?" Izuku held his breath, waiting for an answer.

"Up high."

"Huh?"

"Down low." Kylie dropped down faster than the blink of an eye, sweeping Izuku's legs from under him. Izuku hit the canvas with an audible thud. "Too slow."Kylie snickered, "I was right, it is fun hitting you."

"What was that one for," Izuku inquired, still rubbing his head from the impact.

"An enemy won't always engage you in a fist fight," Kylie took a serious tone. It made Izuku snap up to look her in the eye. "They might not even come at you with a physical attack, so many quirks exist out there that no one person can be prepared for everything. I know you keep that notebook filled with just about everything there is on everything, but I'm giving you something even more valuable." Kylie took up the peekaboo stance once more. She started throwing out jabs and straights at a pace that dwarfed what she had done against Izuku. It was like watching a machine. Every fist was thrown with practiced grace, every jab quick as lightning. Izuku couldn't tear his eyes away if he wanted to. When she started speaking again Midoriya was so consumed by the showing that he jumped. "Practice. If you want to learn then practice. If you want to improve then practice. If you want to be a hero then practice." Kylie put a worn hand Izuku's shoulder and squeezed, not to intimidate but to show, "I can't tell you how important practice is to become great at something. It's the most valuable lesson I can give you.

Izuku was silent, it wasn't very often Kylie spoke to him without some sadistic humor, or a form of violence. Times like these made Izuku realize how little he knew about his trainer. Was she a former soldier, a retired pro hero, a professional fighter? Was she someone that lost too much? Izuku had asked before, but she never had a straight answer to give. Anytime he pressed for answers she would snap at him with a quick jab. Midoriya had learned when to stop, whatever she had been through she earned her privacy. Izuku looked up and dropped his entire body to the floor, narrowly avoiding the fist that sailed overhead.

"See that Izuku," Kylie started, sounding somewhat annoyed, "Instead of dropping to fighting stance you curled into yourself and just dropped."

"THAT PUNCH WAS COMING AT LIKE MACH 5!" Izuku would almost never yell at someone as scary as Kylie, but he also almost never had his life put in danger like that.

"In a few months time you're reaction will be to dodge and counter. Easy and a natural as breathing."

"Are you even listening to me?" Izuku pleaded to Kylie, but she just took up another stance. Her arms were higher arm, and a bit farther apart. Her back was no longer at an angle, but she kept her feet closer together. Izuku tried to mimic this one but she put her hand out.

"You're opponent won't always use the same style as you. Slip back into the peekaboo stance." Izuku did so, and she continued. "I'm in a basic Muay Thai stance, during this spar I want you analyze me. What's my weakness, what's my advantage. How can you overcome it."

"You want me to try and beat you?"

Kylie's body abruptly stopped. She wasn't moving very much, keeping her stance limber enough, but even the little things froze. Then her body wobbled, once, then twice. Suddenly she was shaking uncontrollably until she burst out in laughter. Not a few chuckles, not a short burst of mirthful snorting, but uncontrolled, uncontained cackling. Loud enough to draw eyes from around the room, some even froze mid-spar to watch the uncommon spectacle. Through it all Izuku attempted to sink into the floor where he could hide his shame.

"It wasn't that funny Kylie." Izuku muttered.

"YES IT WAS," Kyle howled from the floor.

Yujiro, who had been passively observing (and sometimes cringing at) the match, climbed into the ring, making his way around rolling Kylie to Izuku. He patted the green-haired youth on his back while gently manueving him out of the ring. "She's gonna be like that for a little while, let's continue your lesson over here."

"Yujiro, her laughter haunts me," a gaunt-faced Izuku mumbled.

"There's nothing can I do about that Izuku. There's nothing anyone can do." Yujiro then entered the same stance as Kylie had a little while ago. Izuku saw and got into his own.

"Did Kylie teach you that stance?"

"I've been coming here since I was younger than you. She's taught me everything." Yujiro adopted a confident grin, but not quite a smirked. "Stay on your toes, and keep moving. The longer you stay still the more vulnerable you are."

Izuku soaked up this bit of information like everything else, defending against the rush that Yujiro started with.

* * *

The alley was totally silent, nothing moved. There wasn't even a stray cat to mewl at the dark. Darkness accompanied the silence, almost as present overbearing. The moon hung over just so that a thin beam of light could illuminate the floor, littered with tron papers and cns.

Then like a ghost, someone drop from the air. Not from the roof of a building or from behind a dumpster. She had instead materialized from thin air. She shakilly stood up from lying on her side, at least feminine features could be discerned from a lengthy grey cloak. She turned her head, and a strand of silver hair caught the moonlight, she was looking around for something, almost desperately. She started walking towards the end of the alley, looking around as if the buildings see was surrounded by shouldn't be. She walked for minutes, crossing in front of dilapidated homes, passing by abandoned libraries. Every building see passed took a little bit of the energy from her step. It was as if she had expected something different.

"It's all the same, it didn't work." Her voice was dry and cracked, but sadness rung through clearly enough. "Why didn't it work, we all did everything right. We gave so much, so where is everything." Sadness was turning to anger, anger her hood was disintegrating around her, revealing more silver hair, matted with blood and dirt. She was oddly pale, even with the moonlight being the only source of light. She couldn't have been older than 20, but there was experience in those eyes, under the seething anger.

Without warning she dashed to the larger buildings, near the center of the city. She was sprinting for all the good it would do. The city was at least a few miles out. She was relentless in her pace, up until a glare hit her eye. But no, there was no glass around, and the moon hadn't magically focused on her for that one moment. Where was the light coming from? She looked far down, to her left. She nearly cried.

The entire street was alight with people, families, children. Cries of delight and not the screams of anguish or fear that she had been so used to. There were lights and smells of good food that she had been starved of if her skinny frame were anything to go off of.

"It worked. I'm back. I can fix things, I can save everyone, I can can protect you." She crumbled to the ground with tears in her eyes. "You don't have to die, I don't have to say goodbye. Izuku, I can save you."

 **Hey guys and gals, sorry about the short chapter today, but just wait another two weeks for the next chapter. It'll be much longer, and it'll be the last one before we start the canon timeline. I'm pumped and I hope you are too. See ya next time, Brother Moon is out.**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia and probably never will, but I got this story to keep me warm at night AND NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT FROM ME! My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

Setting: **Hong Kong, 3:13 P.M.**

* * *

Izuku weaved by a jab sent by Yujiro, countering with a swing to his temple. It never connect, Yujiro had ducked under it and went straight for a shot at Izuku's body. The young trainee jumped back with explosive speed but Yujiro pursued. Soon enough, Izuku was backing into the corner, narrowly avoiding flurry after flurry from his senpai. Seeing an opening in the pattern of attack, Izuku curled inwards and dashed under an elbow strike from Yujiro. Now behind him, Midoriya went in for another clean swing only for Yujiro to duck under again. This time Izuku was ready. The boy dropped down once his his hook sailed overhead, swinging his leg at the side of Yujiro's knee. It caught the brunette off guard. Yujiro went careening to the ground in. Unfortunately for Izuku, Yujiro had experience on his side. He caught Izuku's leg as it was returning to the verdette and pulled him down. Before Izuku knew it he was caught in a hold, arms pinned behind him.

"Come on Izuku," Yujiro chidded, "You're not going to break my grip." Izuku huffed.

"I almost had you," Izuku dejectedly pointed out.

Yujiro let Izuku go. He stood up stretching his shoulders, "Yeah, if I wasn't holding back."

Kylie walked over from wall, where she had observed the spar. She smiled at Izuku warmly, but quickly replaced it with a smirk.. "You're getting better Izuku, but you've still got some way to go. Tell me what you did wrong."

Izuku leaned onto the ropes, wiping the sweat off his brow. "After I had him on the ground, I let my guard down," Izuku berated himself, before turning to face Kylie.

"And why," Kyle started with an annoyed tone, "Do I always tell you not to do specifically that?"

"Because a real fight doesn't end just because someone's on the ground." Izuku heard it a thousand times. Kylie had a real thing with repetition, but she never said anything that wasn't worth knowing. Except for when she made fun of him, he could do without some of that.

"THAT'S RIGHT YOU NAPPY-HEADED PUNK." Kylie roared. She laid her head on her arms, leaning against the rope in mock disappointment "We're just gonna have to find a way to curb that bad habit of yours."

"H-How's that." Izuku was right to be wary. Kylie was a genius fighter trainer, but sometimes she was plain sadistic. Her methods were painful at best, and torture masquerading as a lesson at worst.

"As long as you're in that ring, anything can happen." Kylie let a smile creep onto her face. It deeply unsettled Izuku, who didn't notice her slowly getting closer.

"Anything like wha-," Izuku's question was interrupted by a fist carrying all the weight and velocity of what felt like a small car, right into his face.

"Anything like that." Kylie nonchalantly rubbed her nails on her shirt, ignoring that large bump she had erected on her trainee's head.

"That was very helpful," Izuku muttered from the floor of the ring. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Is that sarcasm my dear Midoriya," Izuku shivered at her tone. "I do believe you've grown a bit more confident as of late. Don't make me have to correct that too."

Izuku took note of the dark aura that was rolling off of his teacher. It was bringing back memories of his first day of training. "Yes ma'am," he squeaked.

"That's better," Kylie said in a bubbly tone. Izuku never knew hear to be a cold woman, nor a cheery one, but today she seemed unusually happy. Izuku began to think of what could be different as he climbed out of the ring. It was a Saturday and he had gotten to the gym early, but that wasn't a first, nor was it something she would be affected by. Today a few more people were there, but that should have only made her more annoyed. Ultimately, he couldn't know what was making her so happy unless he up and asked.

"Kylie," Izuku called out, matching her pace towards a weight bench. "If you don't mind me asking, what's making you so cheery?"

"Izuku," she smirked, "Do you remember me knocking you out this morning during our spar?"

Izuku grimaced, "Why do you have to enjoy hurting me so much?"

"Because it's funny." Izuku groaned but Kylie continued, "I heard you muttering in your sleep."

"That was not sleep!"

Kylie ignored his plea, " You kept saying 'Tsuyu-chan you look so pretty', 'What should we do today'." Kylie put her hands against her head in mock affection, "'Tsuyu-chan, I looove yooou'."

Izuku turned cherry red, "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO QUOTE ME."

"Hey," Kylie put her hands up, "You're the one that asked. So, who's this 'Tsuyu-chan' that you were dreaming of. Is she some girl at your school or a neighbor? Let e know if I need to lend you a comb or something." Kylie draped an arm over his shoulder and pulled him closer, to his perpetual vexing.

"I wanna know about this too." Yujiro popped up from behind the pair, scaring Izuku, inadvertently entertaining Kylie.

"Yujiro!" Izuku scrambled his hands together, not knowing what to say. "How much did you hear."

"I heard it all," Yujiro waved Izuku's mortified expression off, "I'm the one that always moves you off the ring when Kylie puts you to sleep."

"That doesn't count as sleeping!"

"Well I'm sure as hell not gonna drag you, I'm getting old you know." Kylie snorted.

"Not too old to beat me unconscious," Izuku gave Kylie a side glare.

"And don't you forget it. Now back to the girl, tell us everything."

Izuku sighed, seeing no real reason to hold anything back. It's not like he hadn't considered asking for help on the issue before. Maybe they could offer some insight into what he should do. Kylie had worldly experience and Yujiro must have know something about relationships. "She was someone I met when I was… less confident about my dream. I didn't even mean to talk to her. I started ranting to myself and poof, there she was. I didn't even know she was there at first, she just sorta popped up next to me."

"Oh, how incredibly romantic that must have been." Kylie laid the sarcasm thick, and it elicited a chuckle from Yujiro.

"As I was saying," Izuku stressed the syllables, "She talked to me, she said that she had faith in me. She encouraged me to not give up. We ended up talking about how we both wanted to be heroes, and I promised that I would meet her again at U.A." Izuku blurted out his next words, trying to whisper them with little emphasis. "Then her friend paralyzed me because I got too excited." Izuku rubbed his head, ignoring the raucous laughter that erupted from his teacher.

"I can't believe I missed something that priceless." Kylie wiped a tear from her eye. Izuku grumbled about mean teachers before continued appearance. "So that was it? A few words of encouragement and you get all tongue tied for a total stranger?"

Yujiro felt the need to interject, "What Kylie is trying to ask is, are you sure you really feel something for her. It would be a bad idea to put her up on a pedestal and expect her to be perfect."

"But I don't think she perfect," Izuku defended. "I mean of course I think she's great. She introduced me to her siblings and I even made friends with the girl that paralyzed me, but I can tell she isn't perfect. She can be too blunt at times, and that can end up hurting feelings. She's so hard to read that it's easy to get a little uncomfortable around her, but I don't care about stuff like that. She was the first person to tell me that I could be a hero, and she's someone that I admire." Izuku's eyes were sharp and determined, staring right at Kylie, but she knew he didn't see her. He was picturing the girl right now. "Tsuyu had to face challenges growing up and she didn't let that stop her, that's the kind of hero I want to be. That's the kind of person I wanted to be."

"She sounds like a really great girl." Kylie leaned back into the bench and crossed one leg over the other. "So have you told her yet?"

Izuku looked down, slightly blushing at the question. "Well...no."

Yujiro spoke up, "Well why not? You sound like you were ready to ask her out just now."

"Well you know, I just want to get to know her better is all." Izuku found himself twiddling his thumbs, it was embarrassing for him to talk about this sort of thing to anyone, now that his flash of passion was fading from him. This compounded with the fact that it was his first crush ever.

"Well that's not too bad an idea, just don't end up tiptoeing around her forever. That'll just make you look like a creep." Kylie took her usual blunt tone and beat it upside Izuku's fragile heart.

"I don't want her to think of me as a creep," Izuku muttered as a rain cloud manifested over him.

"Yup," Kylie went on, "You'd definitely have zero chance if you just came off like some stalker pervert." Kylie was either oblivious or uncaring to Izuku's increasingly darkening depression cloud. "She'd probably call the cops or get a restraining order, that's what most people would do."

"Let's stop making him feel bad," Yujiro interjected, having watched Izuku fall into a depressing state. "How have you and her been interacting so far. Has it been good, bad, awkward?"

Izuku looked up, "Well I think it's been going well, sometimes I just can't telling. She doesn't hold back with what she feels, but if she doesn't say it out right she can be really hard to read."

"Have you been clear and open?" Yujiro put a thumb to his chin, searching for the right words. "What are you like when you talk to her? Do you get nervous and awkward like normal?"

"I normally start off pretty good." Kylie immediately deadpanned.

"Don't make me repeat the policy on lying." Izuku gulped

" I start off nervous most a lot, but it's not like that all the time., We just keep meeting at awkward times. Then I ramble because I'm caught off guard and sometimes I get too excited." Izuku closed his eyes, thinking back the two of the times he's had a chance to see her. Yujiro patted him on the back and looked at him expectantly, so Izuku continued. "But it gets better. We start to get more fluid, like I'm talking to an old friend. Once I can get the ball rolling it gets easy. It feels natural. Sometimes I get so caught up I just can't look away." Izuku pictured one of Tsuyu's rare smiles. "She's just that amazing."

"She really means that much to you, doesn't she." Kylie laid back and smiled. She knew young love when she heard it, and Izuku was helpless. "You gotta keep that feeling right here Izuku," She held a cupped palm to her chest. "It's gonna keep you warm in the cold and give you strength when you're weak."

"Yeah, it does." Izuku was surprised at how supportive she was being, not that Kylie was the kind of person to tear someone down, emotionally at least. She hadn't taken an interest in his personal life before. "So do you have any advice for me, what should I do?"

"Be yourself," she declaire, while shrugging her shoulders. "It sounds simple and you've probably heard it a thousand times, but it's the truth. You don't want to start a relationship as someone you're not, because then you have to be fake everytime she sees you. Be yourself and be confident."

"But my natural self isn't confident." Izuku wasn't wrong. While he was making progress, his confidence still came in short bursts, and he tended to lose himself in them.

"Just do it," Kylie's tone was laced in annoyance. "It'll turn out better than if you tried to be someone you're not. Sincerity is important Izuku. Besides, who could give you better advice than a worldly an experienced woman such as myself," she finished with a flourish of her hands to frame herself.

"Yeah, I guess you're right Kylie." Izuku sighed out in relief, he felt a bit of weight leave his shoulders, "You can be really helpful when you're not hitting me."

"Izuku my boy," Kylie threw an arm over the young man's shoulder, "I have a wealth of knowledge gathered over my many years on this Earth. It just so happens that a lot of it was in fighting." Izuku chuckled in a somewhat strained way, but with real happiness.

Moments like these made him realize how starved of friendship he had been all his life. Sure it was more or less the same amount of violence he had always be subjected to, but there was none of the malicious intent. With Kylie and Yujiro, he learned from every bruise. When he wasn't training he would have man to man talks with Yujiro. Once in a blue moon Kylie would sprinkle him with words on wisdom. Izuku could truly call them friends, just like Habuko, Satsuki, Samidare, and Tsuyu.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. Just because you got googoo eyes doesn't mean the world is gonna be a rainbows and kittens. Everything is the same as it was yesterday and the day before that." Kylie stood up and Izuku followed her. "U.A. is an elite school, and their gonna put you through hell. Without a quirk you're gonna have to work ten times harder than anyone else.

"I'll just work ten times harder than even that." Izuku pulled himself into an empty ring and started running through drills, "I plan to keep my promise. I've got one year to get to that point, so I won't waste any time." Izuku jumped into the nearest ring and turned back to face them both. "I'm rested enough."

Yujiro hopped up into the ring, ready to help his friend and younger trainee. Kylie hung back, and watched as they spared. Everytime Izuku got in that ring he was better than the last time, and now Kylie knew why. He was doing this for more than himself, and that conviction let him power through anything. She always pushed him to find his limits and he would rush past them everytime. She watched him maneuver Yujiro into a corner, and smirked. He was going to be great, there was no way around it.

* * *

Izuku left the gym ragged, but proud. Today was one of those days when he just felt stronger, like a new person. Everything from the ache in his muscles to the weights on his wrists and ankles told him that he was making progress. Looking overhead, the sun hung high in the sky.

He glanced down to look at his phone.

'It's only 2 p.m. I've still got the rest of the day,' he thought to himself.

With that, Izuku ran to his home, his training had cut his travel time to a few minutes. He had hardly broken a sweat by the time he was in front of his home. He open the door, not bothering with a greeting. At this time of day he knew his mom, Inko Midoriya would be at work. He dropped his bag off in his room and went back down to the kitchen, reheating some noodles and bean paste. The whole time Izuku wondered what he should do with the rest of his day, he considered getting on the bus and riding into the city. Aside from observing some heroes or recording new quirks, he hoped that he might run into Tsuyu again. No, that was a bit too much to ask for. Still, he had been busy training, perhaps he should go into the city. He hadn't been able to document any heroes or quirks in days.

Izuku finished his meal and changed into a pair of plain black pants and a red t-shirt. The bus stop near his house was just at the corner, after waiting for a few minutes the bus came by. A short bus ride later, Izuku was strolling through the city. He passed by a few minor heroes, no villains to be seen however. He went up and down the southern districts of downtown looking for something. It was getting to become a chore rather than something he enjoyed. Suddenly a flash caught his eye. Izuku wondered if it might be a camera, but realized it had been shiny silver hair reflecting a glare of light towards him. She looked in her mid-twenties, wearing plain jeans and a grey hoodie. Izuku squinted his eyes to see her head was turned to his, and she was intently staring at him.

The owner of the hair jumped when she met Izuku's eyes, and quickly walked away. Had she been staring at Izuku? Izuku wondered if she was a harmlessly curious stranger, or someone possibly dangerous. Curiosity overcame caution and Izuku decided to follow her. He crossed the street and rounded the building, but the crowds were so dense he only barely keep her in his sight. Turning the corner at the next street, she narrowly disappeared again. Izuku became trapped in this pseudo-race for a few minutes weaving through more human traffic. Izuku reached yet another corner before roughly bumping into someone, knocking them both over.

Izuku, sprawled out on the ground, opened his eyes to see who he had run into. It was a young man of his own age. They possessed bright red eyes and droopy black hair ending in spikes. The young man kept his head down, likely in deep thought. In fact, he hadn't even acknowledged that he was on the ground.

"Uh," Izuku rubbed his neck in embarrassment. "Sorry about bumping into you like that." He pick himself up an offered a hand to the quiet stranger.

"It's fine," the stranger weakly replied, grabbing Izuku's arm and pulling himself up. "I wasn't watching where I was going." Izuku pondered his somber tone before remembering that he was in pursuit of someone else. He turned to the retreating figure of the silver-haired women. He wanted to chase after her, if only to find out that he was over-reacting. He wanted some peace of mind. Izuku was a nobody to most people, he couldn't deny that. What interest could this random stranger in the middle of the city have in him?

Then the boy's eyes flashed through his mind. They were tired and downtrodden, like his day had just gone from one train wreck to another. The bags under them suggested that he had had less than success in clearing his mind with sleep. Those eyes were hauntingly familiar, and in some way, Izuku knew him. Izuku realized that those were his eyes, he had been like that. It was Tsuyu that dragged him out of his rut, now he could be there for someone else. Curiosity could wait, it was time to be there for someone.

"Hey," Izuku called out to the dark-haired boy. "Are you okay?"

The young man was confused, this guy didn't know him. What did care how he was doing? "I'm, alright," he lied while waving his hand. "You don't need to worry about me." He faked a smile and kept walking, only to be caught off guard when the green-haired boy matched his pace from beside him.

"Well, you say that, but you've got this look in your eye." Izuku kept his eyes forward as he spoke. "It made me think of someone I knew a little while ago. He wasn't doing to good. Well really he was doing absolutely horrible, and it didn't look like anything was going to make it better." Izuku wondered why he once again was spilling he personal life out to a stranger, and silently hoped it didn't become some odd habit of his. For what it was worth he wasn't looking at Izuku with any sort of contempt so he decided to go on. "It took the kind words of someone that didn't even know him ro pull him out of his dark place." Izuku stopped and the boy stood with him, a few steps away. "It's none of my business, but do you think I could help you out?"

The stranger looked on unsure of himself. Then he let out a sigh and a grin, revealing some dangerously sharp teeth., "If you've got the time, I wouldn't mind getting something off my chest." He walked forward again, no particular direction, but Izuku followed.

"I'm Izuku by the way. Izuku Midoriya." He fell in step with the boy who nodded his head.

"Eijiro Kirishima."

"Well Kirishima-san, tell me what's wrong. Maybe I could help out."

"It was when I was at school. These two junior pick on the same freshman everyday, and every time I try to stop them they drag the freshman away and leave me in the dirt." Izuku immediately thought of how he was almost always left in the dirt after a bullying experience. In fact he had often been trying to help someone else before he was beaten. The immediate parallels put shivers in his spine. "Then one day this girl, Mina, just made it stop. She made the bullies be friends with the freshman." Kirishima loosely swung his arms out, in a 'there you go' motion'.

Izuku tried to interject, "That doesn't sound like anything you did wrong. At least you did your best, right?"

"No, I didn't." Eijiro faltered in his step and Izuku had to look behind him. "Later that day, there was a villain. He was massive, like some monster, and he kept asking where to find some hero's office. He started asking these two girls from my school, but they were too afraid to say anything. He kept getting angrier when they couldn't say anything, and it looked like he was going to start attacking them." Izuku heard his voice crack, and looked down, having a feeling of where this story was going to go. "I was too scared to move and it was about to cost those girls their lives. All because I was a coward." The tension left his voice, replaced by lifeless drone. "It was Mina that came to the rescue again. She got him away and ran those girls to safety."

"Eijiro, none of that is your fault. You can't blame yourself for being afraid."

"I wasn't just afraid," he shook with every breath, "I COULDN'T MOVE!" People jumped off the sidewalk at the explosive proclamation, but Izuku was watching the tears stream from his eyes. "It just made me think about my dream. Am I really someone that could be a hero? How can I if I'm just gonna freeze when it really counts? How can I be like Crimson Riot if I back down from everything?"

"Eijiro…" Izuku could hear himself in the other boy's words. He remember how desperately he wanted someone to believe in him. He had to say something, be there for a friend. "I want to be a hero too. It's all I ever wanted. If I'm being honest, my whole life revolves around it. I filled up countless notebooks with facts and information about all sorts of heroes and villains. One of them was Crimson Riot." Eijiro nugged his eyes up, slightly at least. "Did you know that he was afraid, not just sometimes, but every minute of his career. In his early years, a few civilians even died because he hesitated when he saw a dangerous villain."

"Yeah, I do." Eijiro wiped his eyes and stood up to his full height.

"And do you remember what he said about someone that doesn't feel fear." Izuku left his question there, waiting for Eijiro to respond.

"He said that anyone that doesn't feel fear is an idiot." Eijiro soberly looked on, "And the one thing that scared him most was the victims. The faces of people he couldn't save."

"You say you were paralyzed," Izuku rested his hand on his companion's shoulder, "But you sound like you were more scared for what could have happened to those girls than your own safety. Next time it happens, when you becoming a hero, you'll do what needs to be done." Izuku smiled. "It's like Crimson Riot said, to live without regrets is the best way to be."

Eijiro raised a shaky hand to scrub the tears out his eyes. He stood up and took a good look at the boy before him. "You're a real man Izuku, but it's still kinda weird that you would come and help out stranger like me."

"Well that's what I believe a hero does. They go were they don't have any business and help everyone they can." Izuku held his hand out, "I'm going to be a hero that can run into any crisis with a smile, what about you?"

Eijiro heard the words, he'd been wondering them to himself for a long time. He wasn't sure if he could be a hero, not being able to move in a real emergency. Then again, that was his answer. He took the outstretched hand into his own, "I'll be the hero that never hesitates, a real man that can run into any situation to save everyone."

"Then let's stake our pride on it." Izuku was speaking from the heart, and every word was reaching his new friend. "Next time I see you, we'll both be different."

"You got it, Izuku." As soon as he said it, a bashful look crossed his face. "Heh, I'm glad I got to talk to a guy like you, but am I keeping you from anything important? Now that I think about it, you looked pretty rushed when you bumped into me."

"No it wasn't anything important," Izuku assured him. "I just thought I saw something strange." Izuku once again thought of the woman with silver hair. She had definitely been looking at him, if her rushed escape was anything to go on.

"Well if you're not busy, we could grab a bite to eat. I know this awesome barbeque place a few streets into the business district."

"Well, sure. I don't normally get to hang out with friends. To tell you the truth, until recently I didn't have any." Izuku felt a little embarrassed, but he was getting better. Slowly but surely his life was evening out. "Course now I'm kinda busy training."

"You started training already, like combat training? Where at? I might stop by sometime to pick up some lessons. After all, a real man has to be able to defend the helpless."

Izuku stop in his tracks, hollowing out to a dry husk. "First rule of Kylie's teachings." Izuku's voice was horse and fearful, " There is no such thing as a lesson being finished. Everything is a learning experience."

Kirishima hovered over Midoriya, worried about his unresponsive friend. "What do you mean man? Who's Kylie? Why are you freaking out?"

"Second rule of Kylie's training…."

"Speak to me Izuku." Eijiro starts to shake his friend by the shoulders. "What are you freakin out for?"

* * *

Late into the night, inside a familiar gym walked Yujiro Haruno. Kylie had long since gone to sleep her room in the attic, and Yujiro was going around the building's border, closing the blinds and turning out the lights. The last of the trainees had left hours ago, but he lived in the gym with Kylie. He was done practicing, and was just getting around to the lock up. Suddenly he heard a ring of chimes, alerting him to the entrant.

"Sorry," he called as he was turning around. The person's silver-gray hair put him on guard, but this person was distinctly feminine. Last he had seen him, Shimura was most certainly a guy. "We're closing down for the day-"

"I need you to listen to me." Yujiro heard the urgency in her voice, but didn't sense the panic. She was flickering her eyes to and from the open windows as if someone was going to come through one. "Something horrible is going to happen and I need to stop it."

"Listen," the brunette lifted his hands in a placating manor. "Whatever this is, I'm sure some hero cann help you. I've got a phone right here." He picked it up from the table, but the young women scoffed at it.

"This isn't something any hero can help me with Yujiro." His eyes narrowed, and he moved to the balls of his feet.

"I don't think we've had introductions yet." She looked unconcerned with his increasingly hostile tone. "Why are you here, what do you want?"

"I'm here to save your life, and Kylie's, and Izuku's and everyone in the cities. Everyone in the worlds." She look at him with a stone-cold demeanor.

"You need to start explaining yourself." Yujiro dropped the pretences, taking on a karate stance. "What are you talking about."

"She's talking about All For One." Yujiro looked behind him to see Kylie drop from the ceiling, a nostalgic smile gracing her face. "Hello Zencho, It's been a long time."

The younger of the silver-haired women smiled back, "Time passes differently for someone like me, but I'm happy to see you too."

"I guess if you're here, it can't be all that far off from now is it." Yujiro's eyes narrowed.

"Does she know about you and….it?"

"She knows everything. Everything and more Yujiro." Zencho walked towards Kylie, quivering at each step with tears peeling at the corners of her eyes. "What's wro-"

"I'm so sorry. Everything I did, it didn't change anything. He's still coming, I can't stop him, no one can."

"I told you already, I've accepted this, I know it has to happen."

"Kylie, who is this, what does she have to do with All For One." Yujiro could wait no longer. This person knew too much for him to have not met her before.

"This is a friend, she can't tell you her name quite yet, but she'll tell you what she can." With that Kylie left to get something from her office closet, leaving the two young adults in silence. The deep silence was filled with suspicious glares and annoyed stares. Yujiro was still very much upset with the secretive nature of this stranger.

"So, if you won't tell me who you are then could you at least tell me what you're doing here? What was all that about saving the world."

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, I just can't." She sighed and sat down, leaving Yujiro to lean against an elevated ring. "It could change things in a way that could destroy millions of lives. You have a part to play, the same way I do, or Izuku, and Kylie. If that changes, I don't know if I'll be to help anymore."

"And what part is it that I play?" Yujiro was curious, this person wasn't insane, or else Kylie would trust her, so her words must hold some truth to them. "What do you know about Izuku or me."

"Yet more things I can't tell you."

"That's getting a pretty annoying," Yujiro huffed.

"Hey you don't have to tell me twice. I've been lost in the city for three days. You don't want to know how I got these clothes." She motioned to the hoodie, jeans, and tattered tennis shoes.

"3 days!" Yujiro was astonished. "How did that even happen, why didn't you find a map or something."

"Well in my timeline the city was destroyed. I wasn't even sure if I was in the right city period."

"You're _timeline?_ "

"It's a long story, but I promise to tell when the time is right."

"Sure whenever that is." Yujiro was irritable, all this mystery and confusion. No question was answered but more were raised. "Is your name really Zencho?" He hoped to at least get something to clarify.

"Nope."

"Could you tell me what it is?"

"Nope." She popped her lips for effect.

Yujiro facepalmed. "You're just gonna be a pleasure to work with," if Zencho was offended by the sarcasm she didn't show it.

Kylie arrived to this scene. A tired and annoyed Yujiro with a snickering Zencho, the girl she hadn't seen in decades. She hadn't aged a day, but a spry as Kylie was, the years weighed heavily on her shoulders. Still, it lifted her spirits to see little moments like these. But it tore into her, the fact that she knew they wouldn't last.

She lifted a pull out a small glossy orb, the colors shifting beneath the glass like surface. It drew the eyes of the Zencho and Yujiro, who raised his brow. He quickly flicked his eyes to Kylie before looking back at the silver haired girl.

"Does she know about my quirk to?"

"Yes, and it's how I got here in the first place." Zencho walked forward and picked up the ord. The colors shifting a mostly pale white.

"I'm pretty sure we've never met before."

"I'm pretty sure you heard me say I'm from another timeline."

"You two need to focus." Kylie growled, she might have been happy to see her friend but she did interrupt her sleep. "Zencho, if your going to be here then I want you to keep this. You never know if you'll need to make another jump."

"It might be sooner than you think." She prepared herself for what she had to say next. "Izuku say me today."

Kylie took a deep breathe before shutting the blinds of the nearest window, Yujiro following her example. "Did he see you," she asked simply.

"No, but he tried to catch me."

"Why would Izuku chase you?" Yujiro didn't know Izuku to be a violent boy, it wasn't in his nature.

"He say me watching him." Yujiro's inquisitive look was overshadowed by a disapproving glare from Kylie. "I know it was reckless, but it's been so long. The last time I saw him he was…" The young women lost her voice, and decided to move past the subject. "It won't happen again, but I need a place to stay."

"There's an extra room in the attic, next to Yujiro." Kylie pointed to the rafters. "Just remember, Izuku doesn't have a set schedule, if you need to leave you need to know where he is so you can avoid him."

"Do you mind if I go to sleep then?" She slumped her shoulders and Kylie could see her tired body language. She was clinging to consciousness by a thread, "It's been a long few days."

Kylie nodded and Zencho climbed the ladder. Once she was out of sight, Yujiro looked over to Kylie. "Does she know Aizawa, does Aizawa know her?"

"Yes to the first, and no to the rest." The grey haired woman rested herself on a stool, letting her head fall into her palms while Yujiro locked the doors. "I know you must be confused, but let me start from the beginning."

"I thought she said she couldn't say anything about it."

"Well I'm going to anyway." She snapped. "I don't have too much time left so I want you to heat this from me." Yujiro sat down next to her, trying to seem less bothered than he really was. "I met her a long time ago. Before you were even born, before I had given up One For All. All the way back when I was still Nana Shimura."

 **Ahem, SURPRISE FUCKERS, except for those of you that already guessed Kylie's identity. Hope you like the chapter so please comment on how I'm doing. Tell me what you like and what you don't so I can bring you better quality writing.**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia and probably never will, but I got this story to keep me warm at night AND NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT FROM ME! My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

 **Let me send a thank you to everyone that favorited and followed, WE HIT THE HUNDREDS, and let me send a special thank you to everyone that left a review.**

DragoonSensei: It makes my day reading your comments. They always have a palpable excitement.

Mitarashi Misato: I know it's going to be a challenge but it's important to the story. Also, Kirishima will get more development later but he didn't an instant fix. It's going to be a process.

Phoenix of Apocalypse: While it wasn't intentional, I do enjoy TFS as much as the next guy. Don't expect references to be present throughout the story though.

nekoboy13: I'm kind of a slow burn style guy. Try to hold out till it gets good, cause this chapter we start off the canon timeline.

C.J. Robbins: You don't know how badly I wanted to bust that one out on the first chapter.

Carlmangno-2: Thanks, I try to capture the characters as they are and have them change in reaction to the events. Tsuyu was a bit harder to do seeing as she doesn't do facial expressions all that much.

Mr. Vegerott23: Thanks man, glad you like the story.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

Setting: **Hong Kong, 3:13 P.M.**

* * *

Izuku walked home, taking the longer, scenic route since he didn't have any training today. Really, training had taken a rather strange turn as of late. Kylie made a point to make each session a little more intense then the last. Once in a blue moon she would add a wholly new set of exercises to his routine but now she was getting crazy. Now there was no such thing as rest as far as she was concerned, not as long as he was in the building. Just the other day she had him hold 90 lbs over his head while he ran laps with Yujiro. Before that she had him in the ring improving his reaction time, which of course meant punching him until he could properly dodge and block at her pace. After a night of icing his limbs and bathing in salts his feet remained raw and his arms were still stiff.

Izuku sighed as he stretched his aching shoulders. These days off training were becoming less and less frequent as well, but he appreciated them like never before. Still, he would never deny the results of his hard work. Underneath the school uniform was a body you wouldn't have recognize.

Nearly 3 months of training and weight lifting hadn't turned him into some Adonis by any means, but he was doing well for a 14 year old. He had gained weight in muscle mass, and something close to an inch in height. HIs physical condition was leagues above what it had been before. Mile runs and basic exercises had become child's play to put it modestly. Izuku had recently tried the exercise routine he had done when he started coming to Kylie's gym. It was too easy, over before it even started. Even Kylie had praised his growth, in her own way.

Thinking back on how everything had been just a few months ago Izuku couldn't help but smile. As he was now, having trusted, nonviolent friends and a fair semblance of confidence, life was good. If he was any happier he would be humming a tune.

Izuku was so caught up in silently celebrating his progress that he didn't notice the bubbling green slime that was sneaking up the sewer grate in front of him. His next step had him slip, but it was too late. A mass of green slime exploded from the manhole cover, coating Midoriya in a thick muddy substance. The revolting ooze started to squeeze down on Izuku, encasing his upper body, while creeping upwards over his neck. Out of the muck, grotesquely large teeth appeared to surround him. Izuku tried to push against the slime and claw his way out but his hands just became stuck in the substance.

"Don't bother kid," Izuku would have shivered if his upper body had the inch of space to spare. The voice sounded as if it was pushing through a sick mucus. Worse that it vibrated from around him, like every piece of muck was a part of it's vocal cords. "My body's nearly liquid. Scratching at it won't do a thing." Izuku felt the villain start to worm his muddy appendages over his own. "Not feeling a quirk, but you're pretty strong. You'll make for a nice snack." Izuku's eyes were nearly covered before he saw to milky white orbs floating above him; the must be its eyes! He hoped there was something to the villain's _nearly_ liquid claim.

"EAT THIS!" With a scream Izuku arched backwards, fully immersing himself into he creature. Using his new angle, Midoriya brought the toe of his foot into the things eye, digging into it to do the most damage he could. The mud-like mass screamed in pain and anger, loosening his grip on the boy just slightly, but in that moment Izuku hooked his foot around a thick root. With a heave of effort he pulled himself out of the monster, leaving his backpack in its clutches.

"That hurt you little bastard!" the villain growled as he rolled his damaged eye back into his body. "I was gonna make it painless but now you're gonna scream!" He lunged forward but Izuku sprang up. He latched his arms into low hanging branch, raising himself over the villain. All the time his mind raced for a solution.

'The river is just over there.' He observed, dropping down while the villain was still behind. 'His body is mostly liquid he said, so maybe he won't be able to hold himself together in moving water. Maybe it could destabilize him long enough for me to find a hero.' The youth started a mad dash to the river bank.

Izuku's escape was interrupted by a muddy claw trapping his leg. He turned around and saw the attacker looming over him. "Where are you off too boy!" A sick snarl vibrated off his body. However, they both froze as they heard a telltale laugh boom from behind them. Suddenly a very large man in appeared close behind the two in a superhero-esque pose.

" **There is no need to fear young lad!** " Izuku found himself paralyzed, not from fear but excitement. He would recognize that laughter anywhere. It was practically his lullaby as a child. He slowly turned to see his hero, the legend, All Might! " **Why? Well that's simple, because I am here!** "

He stood there, a larger than life figure confined to a plain white T-shirt and green cargo pants. His blond hair was mostly tame, staying to the contour of his skull except for two bangs that defied gravity to make a V. Izuku could help but marvel at the ridiculous muscles that his hero was showing. His bicep alone was comparable to Izuku's width of chest. If there was ever a question to what could be defined as ridiculous muscles, the boundary stood before him This image was completed by the permanent and recognizable grin, the beacon of hope in their world.

"Damn!" The sludge monster tried to turn heel but All Might was all ready prepared.

" **Detroit Smash!** " It looked like a simple enough punch, and from a few yards away the villain shouldn't have even felt a gust of air. Izuku was totally unprepared for the incredible force of wind that it produced. He held onto the trunk of a tree, but the villain had no such hold. Chunks and globs of dark-green muck were strewn across the fences and grass, even the space the villain stood in was transformed to a crater.

"Wow." Izuku found himself incapable of saying much else. Seeing a video online was one thing, but this was his hero. He was really there in the flesh, Izuku was close enough to touch him. It was overwhelming, it was incredible, it was making him feel light-headed even.

" **Young man?"** Izuku snapped his head towards the hero. " **Are you okay?** " All Might didn't receive an answer. Being addressed directly by his idol was too much for Izuku, who promptly passed out.

* * *

Izuku began to stir from his sleep. He felt an alarmingly large palm trying to slap him awake. Pulling himself off the ground he opened his eyes, and started gasping like a fish out of water.

" **Please do not faint again.** " Izuku nodded dumbly at the mountain of a human being that sat next to him. He was still in awe that his hero and rescuer had not been a wild hallucination.

"I, I mean you, you're him. You are All Might. You're really All Might!" Izuku stuttered but he could help himself. Despite almost getting eaten, this would go down as one of the best days of his life.

" **Indeed I am, and now that I have contained this villain,** " the blond hero held out two bottles of muddy liquid before two eyes rolled out to the edge, glaring at them both, " **I must be on my way!** "

The hero started to walk away but Izuku realized that this was the perfect opportunity to get an autograph. He quickly dug his notebook out of his bag and open it to a fresh page. To his shock and delight, All Might had already signed his moniker in bold print. 'This is the best day of my life.' Izuku hugged his book into his chest, but he had yet another brilliant thought. This was the number one hero, he could get advice from his idol on how to be a great hero. Who was there better to ask?

Izuku turned to see All Might prepare for a takeoff. In the split second before he left the ground Izuku lunged forward without thinking. Suddenly Izuku's perspective shifted. He looked down to see the ground receding as the wind ripped at him, just barely protected by the very large leg of the hero.

" **Hm?** " All Might felt just the slightest bit heavier, so he looked down. When he did his heart skipped a beat as the young man he had rescued was holding to his lower left leg like a vice. Of course looser grip might have cost the young man his life, they were at least as high as a skyscraper by now and still going higher. " **WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GET DOWN FROM THERE!** "

"I can't do that, I'll die from this high up!" Izuku's eyes watered, less from fear but more from the wind whipping at his face.

" **Yes that is a fair point. But why did you cling to me at all?** "

"I need to ask you some questions! How can I be a hero like you? What are some strategies you used for rescues? Do use equipment for-"

" **I get it, I'll answer some of you questions just close your eyes and mouth. The wind is making you look creepy.** " Izuku knew that his face was being stretched by the air rushing past him, to be honest it was quite painful, so he followed All Might's orders.

They continued to travel in pseudo-flight for a minute or two. All Might changing direction in mid-air would surely have shaken Izuku off to a fatal plumet. When he open his eyes again they were on the roof of what looked like a small business. Izuku was surprised to see the barbeque restaurant that Kirishima had taken him to a few weeks prior, that of course had been after Izuku stopped having a flashback to his hellish early days in the gym.

" **Okay,** " All Might twitched in discomfort, but Izuku hadn't seen it, " **I don't have a lot of time right now, I'm actually on my way to something very important. Let me answer a few of those questions and zo that I can go. And promise not to hold onto my leg again.** " Izuku nodded vigorously.

"I have so many to ask, but I guess I should get the biggest one out of the way." Izuku had a pencil and notebook at the ready, prepared to write every word. "How can I be a hero as effectively as you?"

" **Well that's an easy one. Hard work.** " Izuku furiously scribbled while All Might continued. " **It may sound simple but it gets overlooked all the time. Every pro-hero worth their salt has worked themselves to the bone going over rescue or battle strategy. They'll know their quirk in and out, working out their limitations and flaws.** "

"I like to document quirks sometimes." Of course by sometimes he meant every spare moment. Occasionally he would lose sleep over it. "Not just heroes, but villains, so I could be prepared to to capture them when I become a hero."

" **That's wonderful! It's rare to find such diligence in youths such as yourself. But don't forget about yourself. Do you think you know everything you can about your own quirk?** "

Izuku's hand faulted, and his smile dipped to a sad resignation. "I don't have one." It surprised All Might to say the least. While not expressly forbidden, a hero without a quirk was just unheard of. "I just have some training but I plan to go to U.A.," he said hopefully. "Maybe there I can learn everything I need to." All Might didn't drop his smile, but internally he was saddened.

A hero without a quirk was a death with. He knew, having seen so many die attempting to fight villains or rescue people, it just couldn't be done. He knew he would have to crush this boy's hopes but then he kneeled over. He felt himself reverting to he true form, and Izuku saw this.

"All Might!" Izuku rushed to carry the hero, who was frankly shocked that such a lanky young man was capable of supporting his larger form's weight, at least 255 kilograms. He tried to sputter a reassurance but sure enough his duration in his buff form came to an end.

In a fraction of a second the surrounding area was thick with hot air. Izuku coughed, wafting it away. He panicked once he realized that no longer felt the weight of his hero on his shoulder. Were they now under attack by a new villain? Izuku wondered if All Might's apparent weakness had presented an opening to a hidden enemy. He was unsettled to feel that he was still holding on to someone. This couldn't be the same All Might he was holding earlier. Not unless this strange steam had stripped him of a large portion of body mass. He would soon find the answer to this as the steam was fast to disperse around the rooftop.

Izuku lifted his head only to make eye contact with a human skeleton. "AHHHH!" Izuku stumbled forwards before jumping away from the creature before him. Upon further inspection it was in fact a human, but he was horribly thin, even more so than Izuku before he started training. His entire body was bony and angular, at least that was what Izuku thought; his clothes were so baggy he could have accidentally slipped out of them by closing his arms. Furthermore his eyes were heavily bagged, his pupils barely visible in the shadows they cast. Blonde hair reminiscent of All Might's topped his scarecrow-ish frame.

"Who are you!? What happened to All Might!? Are you impersonating him!?"

Izuku rapid fired his questions at the man who could only sighed to himself. When he spoke his voice sounded like All Might's but far more subdued and less passionate.

"I am All Might." He stated simply, a comical spurt of blood leaving his lips.

"LIES!" Izuku refused to believe it. His dream was quickly turning into a nightmare and the only possible explanation was that this man had stealthily replaced the real deal.

"It's no lie kid. Just look at this so I can explain." The man reached to the corner of his shirt. Izuku tensed up ready to spring into action if it was a weapon but he stared in awe and horror at what was actually revealed. The man lifted his shirt to his chest, allowing Izuku to see where his heart is. At least Izuku hoped his heart was there, for his skin had taken a duller color than the rest of his body, his entire chest was the same hue. A dark cavity rested on his left side beneath his heart, and formed cracks that seemed to emanate outward in a spider web pattern. Izuku was afraid that a gust of wind might shatter the man and carry him away like dry sand. "This is an injury I received fighting a very dangerous, very powerful villain. I only barely managed to defeat him and even then it cost several heroes their lives. Almost my own with them." His tone was a grave, and Izuku could only just tear his eyes away from the injury, unconsciously rubbing his own chest.

"But you're All Might. The symbol of hope and peace, you couldn't possibly continue as a hero with that injury." Izuku looked horrified, cold realization pierced his heart like a knife.

"For a while I couldn't. I was in and out of surgery for months. Most of my internal organs received major damage, they even removed chunks of my stomach and liver. To this day I'm stuck on a near totally liquid diet. I can only be a hero for 4 hours a day." Izuku knew he was telling the truth. All Might sightings were getting more rare everyday, and this was why. "Furthermore, the body you're looking at now is a result of the surgeries. I can't effectively use my quirk outside of my buff form."

"Why?" Izuku had to know. "Why continue to be a hero if you have this kind of injury? Why continue to be All Might?"

"Because the world need me." The man, All Might, leaned against the rails of the roof. "All Might is the beacon of light that shines brightly enough for everyone to see. A light that can shine bright enough to lead the blind and burn the villainous. If I were to stop then villain activity wouldn't just rise, it would explode." Izuku looked down, too lost in his thought. "I know it sounds harsh, but you can't be a hero."

Izuku snapped his head towards All Might but he wouldn't meet his gaze. He was gathering the bottles containing the villain he captured. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that villains are no laughing matter. They will kill without mercy, and without a quirk to at least defend yourself you'd be slaughtered before you could ever hope to help someone else." All Might walked to the exit of the roof, but turned around before he reached to handle to the door. "You should consider becoming a policeman. While their work may be less appreciated it is no less admirable."

He looked at the young man where he stood. His hair overshadowed his eyes, and All Might felt guilty knowing that he had almost certainly crushed a long-standing dream of his. 'It is a sad truth,' he thought to himself, 'but if no one told it to him he could have very well died in his quest to pursue heroism.' He opened the door, hearing a shuffle behind him. As he turned to the boy, he saw he had fire in his steeled green eyes.

"I can't do that." Izuku smiled at the hero, but it was more like a grin. "I've put my all into becoming a hero, so I guess I'll just have to find another way around those limits. Thank you for saving me, and the advice earlier, but I have to get going." With that Izuku made his way down the stairs, not seeing the shock on All Mights face.

* * *

Izuku took a critical look at the pages of his notebook, writing about his encounter with the sludge villain. He was quite proud of how he handled himself, even if he ultimately needed saving. It was just like Kylie said, his training had been ingrained into his muscle memory.

Izuku let out a tempered sigh. Normally something like this would have him jumping for joy, but his mood was heavy. Despite his brave face, his hero's words were nothing short of devastating. Still, he wouldn't fall now. There was at least one person who believed in him, and that was all he needed. Speaking of whom, Izuku let his thoughts drift to Tsuyu. The next time he saw her, he would need to show her just how grateful he was. It was thanks to her that he started training, and it was because of her that he was bold enough to approach Eijiro. Izuku thought back to the boy, they had become fast friends. Izuku found that the teen could relate nearly everything to manliness, a habit that was equal parts annoying and hilarious. The barbeque restaurant they went to had grills built into the table and Kirishima made it a habit to use his quirk to cook his meat without utensils. 'THE LONGER I CAN HOLD MY HAND IN THE FLAME THE MORE MANLY I'VE BECOME!' Izuku cooked his food the normal way, consoling the other teen when he forced himself to eat undercooked foods, the punishment for 'unmanliness'.

Izuku also learned that Eijirou's self esteem troubles ran just as deep his own. They were by no stretch of the imagination fixed but Izuku intended to help him past it. Eijiro cheerful demeanor and openness was a stark contrast to Tsuyu's but they both shared the same blunt nature. It would be funny watching them interact once they were all enrolled in U.A.

Izuku's thoughts were interrupted by an incredible shockwave moving through the Earth. Its source was an explosion, by the sound and smoke in the distance it was at least a few blocks away. Nevertheless, the force was enough to shake Izuku, in fact it shook everything. Blaring car horns went off from all directions, the normally untamed hustle and bustle of downtown was frozen. Izuku looked around and saw that many of the people around him were on the ground, still clamoring from the forceful quake. Izuku helped the woman next to him stand back up before another shockwave hit, smaller this time but slightly closer.

As soon as he righted himself Izuku ran towards the epicenter of the quakes. The shockwaves were still going off, sometimes several explosions in a second, but these were much weaker. Izuku wondered what villain would be this brash about the damage they caused. As far as he knew, most of the heavy-hitters were incarcerated or in hiding. Was this a newcomer with a grand scale quirk? Shouldn't there be heroes flooding the area right now? Were all these smaller explosions actually a sign that a fight was taking place?

Izuku didn't have the answers to these questions but he hoped to learn by witnessing it first hand. He started to navigate himself towards the battleground, helping who he could along the way. He was closing in with haste, maybe a few streets now. Then, to his shock, he heard a scream. It was off to the side but when he turned his head he just saw smouldering rubble. One of the older, smaller buildings had collapsed due to the force of the explosions, maybe even a direct assault. He wasn't sure where it was but the sound came again. It was clearer now, the voice belonged to a child. Izuku changed his course, now sprinting to a destroyed home. Climbing up a broken flight of stairs, he peered in every creviced searching for the injured party.

There at the top of the stairs was a room, at least in had been. The entire back wall was gone, blown off most likely. Somehow the source of the explosions had made its way to the street behind this building. He didn't have time to concern himself with that, they was still a victim nearby.

Izuku put his hands in a cone around his mouth, "IS ANYONE UP HERE!?" It came out more panicked than he meant to but he received a response anyway.

"Please," a young boy whimpered from the corner of the destroyed room. "I'm stuck. I don't know what to do." The child was in tears, his voice cracking at every small explosion, which grew closer with every second as the fight shifted back to this area.

Izuku pondered what he meant before lowering himself to his stomach. He looked up and saw the debris had fallen into a sort of cone, all angled to lean on a wall the had already fallen away. Another large impact rocked the house and the entire structure wobbled. The boy curled into himself and Izuku realized how dangerous this was. Anymore quakes like that and the boy would be buried under it all.

Izuku was racking his brain thinking of solutions. He already had three ways to save the boy but the way the rubble was positioned and with its changing place every time an explosion rocked the house they wouldn't do much more than put them both in danger. If he left to get something sturdy to lean the pile onto it could fall in his absence. He wasn't sure if he could do anything. The boy cried inside his makeshift prison, it was killing Izuku to not do something.

Izuku dropped to the ground as another large explosion shook the house. This eruption felt too close, the battle had to be taking place right outside the building for that kind of force. Izuku was pulling himself up as he heard a creak. It was followed by another, and another. He never wanted to be wrong so desperately in his life but he turned around anyway.

He stared at the pile of rumble. The impact of the blast ad finally pushed it beyond the breaking point. It was slowly careening towards the edge and the small opening that afforded Izuku to see the boy inside was quickly filling up. There was no more time to find another solution, everything that didn't fall to the side was going to crash back down onto him.

Izuku leg shot out from under him, kicking off the nearest wall and flying into the crumbling pile of rubble to cover the boy. He felt stone and wood debris start to crash upon him. There was nowhere to escape, the entrance had been covered by more wreckage behind him. As it was now the boy was huddled underneath him as he kneeled over. The best he could do was shield him from further damage.

He took a deep breath before spewing out dust and smoke. Was this the result of his training, to defend one single person and hope that his dead body would be enough to shield him? Perhaps, it wasn't the greatest ending but it could have been worse. It was a strange clarity that washed over him. These were his last moments, and if he was only able to save one child from danger, it would be his privilege.

Then, a small light peeked from below. It was quickly covered by dust and particulate but it was there. Izuku had seen it. There was a point in the room that was weak or at least had an opening, enough so that light could peak through.

Quickly Izuku tucked the boy into his stomach while he reared his leg upwards. He slammer in back hitting the spot that light had shown through earlier. When he pulled back there was a hole, larger than before. He tried again, and the hole grew. Izuku ignored the raining debris, kicking desperately to free himself and the child.

In an act of divine providence, the entire floor gave way to Izuku's kick. The section of the room they were in dropped to the ground floor. Most of the rubble that was going to crush him to death had fallen to his side. He opened his eyes to the sight of smoke and light, a considerable improvement from the bleak darkness of his almost grave. The boy, who had landed on Izuku's chest, peeked his head up as well to see that he was no longer trapped. He turned watery eyes to his rescuer, too happy to really say anything.

Izuku felt the shift on his torso and looked to meet the eyes of the child. "It's okay," he smiled. "You're safe now."

The boy nodded in understanding before burying himself in Izuku's chest. There they sat, an appreciative silence washed over them and Izuku took advantage of it to see what was going on. The smoke was coming from the street behind the house, and so had the explosion that destabilized the upper floor. The only barrier separating him and the boy from a hero-villain brawl was a thin wall on the cusp of shattering.

"MOM!" Izuku was jolted by the scream that emanated from the boys mouth. He turned to see a wide eyed woman looking at them both.

One the verge of tears she whispered, "My boy."

Izuku released the child who proceeded to run into his mother's arms. It was a touching scene, interrupted by another large explosion. The house had no semblance of balance afterwards. It crashed to the ground, kicking up a veritable dust cloud.

"LEAVE NOW!" Izuku screamed at them both. Needing no second warning the mother scrambled towards an undamaged area with her son in her arms. Izuku turned back towards to building, letting the dust settle.

Izuku was deeply upset to see the same sludge monster that had attacked him about an hour before. It was latched on to a new host, apparently using his quirk to wreak havoc on the city. Izuku didn't understand how it could have escaped All Might's grasp but now wasn't the time for that. He could now see that there hadn't been a fight. No hero could really fight a villain using an innocent bystander as a host. they were all surrounding him, keeping civilians safe. All the damage had been him going on a rampage.

It made a slow turn and Izuku saw the large, disgusting smile of the creature, its one good eye staring right at him. Izuku was less concerned with them as he looked into the eyes of the new host, red eyes. Izuku felt a pang run through his heart as he stared into the eyes of his friend, being used like a puppet to destroy the city. Bakugou looked desperate, pleading even.

It took a moment for Izuku to realize that he was actually running towards the monstrosity but it took about the same for it to recognize him.

"YOU!?" The familiar voice of the villain roared. "Well ain't that nice!" Bakugou's hands were moved in front of him, squaring in on Izuku's approaching form. "I hope you lived a good life cause it's over now!"

Izuku knew it was coming, he'd been dealing with Katsuki for years. The only difference was that now he wasn't able to hold back. Izuku waited until he saw the telltale sparks in the palms of teen's hands and dove to the lower left, breaking his stride for a roll. The explosion's force nearly blew him back but he was able to escape the blast radius. In an instant he was back on his feet continuing his mad dash towards his friend. The monster was raising its arms again but Izuku was ready.

This time he didn't try to roll out of the blast radius. He opted to find the sturdiest cover he could, a dilapidated wall, possibly an eject piece of the building he just escaped. It held against the force of the explosion, just barely. Izuku waited until the smoke started to clear.

"What's the matter kiddo, did I kill ya with the last one!?" Izuku didn't respond. His plan might work out better if he thought he was dead. "Well that's too bad! I was gonna enjoy myself for what you did to my eye!"

The smoke wasn't gone, but there was a screen. He couldn't make out any details but he at least had the outline of the villian, and that would have to do. Izuku reached for a metal pipe nearby by and a brick from the home.

The villain was a little disappointed. That little shit had given him some trouble earlier, and he had been getting chased by All Might since the morning. When he saw the kid again, well he was gonna take his time and blow off some steam. Instead he had to go die on him. Well, it didn't matter, he managed to find a nice strong body to inhabit with a powerful quirk to use. The whole city was gonna help him blow off some steam now.

His thoughts were interrupted by a searing pain in his remaining eye. He clutched at it in pain not hearing the footsteps approaching him. As he pull out the source of his pain he saw, in blearly focus, that it was a brick.

"ALL RIGHT, YOU ALMOST COST ME THE OTHER EYE! I'LL LET YOU APOLOGIZE WHILE A BLOW YOU TO KINGDOM COME!" He marched forward not seeing the shorter form approaching from his left.

" I APOLOGISE FOR MISSING IT THE FIRST TIME!" The villain turned to the source of the voice but it was too little too late. Izuku slammed the metal pipe into his already damaged eye. He bellowed in agony while Izuku started to claw at his biomass.

Izuku scraped the villain off of his friend by the chunks while he was still focused on the pain. "Come on Kaachan I can't do this on my own! I need you to start helping me get you out." Izuku ripped off the part of the villain covering his friends nose and mouth.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE DEKU!? FUCK OFF!" Katsuki practically bit at Izuku. "I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP!"

"WELL GOOD CAUSE THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU! HE NEARLY KILLED SOME KID USING YOUR QUIRK! NOW GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!" Izuku had removed the larger portion of the slime covering the blond bombers torso. He dug his feet into the ground and pulled as hard as he could. Unfortunately for him the villain no longer cared about his lack of sight.

"What do you mean _almost_." Katsuki was then violently yanked back into the mud, and Izuku was pinned down under the foot of the beast. "Sit still kid, I don't want you gettin' away from this one."

" **My thoughts exactly."** The villain could even look up before the next words were shouted. " **DETROIT SMASH!** "

If the earlier attack Izuku had witnessed in the morning was a strong wind then this one was like sitting through a hurricane. The villain was completely destroyed, a splatter across many different walls and businesses. Izuku leaned up to see Katsuki, looking surprisingly unharmed, on top of a car, wiping the sludge out of his hair.

" **Young man, it is a brave thing you've done."** Izuku turned towards his hero who towered over him with his eternal smile. " **You should be proud of yourself.** "

With that, All Might bounded away, leaving the other heroes to flood the area and start on containment. Katsuki glared at Izuku from the sidelines, but Izuku didn't stare back. There was nothing he could say that would change anything right now. He might as well leave now while there was still confusion as to what went on.

* * *

Izuku let out a deep breath, today had been quite the day if only for the afternoon's events. He fought a real life villain, met his real life hero, save a real life, and fought and saved his old friend. That last part was of particular notice as said friend violently threatened him afterwards with his eyes. It was strange to think how drastically of a turn this day had taken from another day at school but that seemed to be the pattern his life took nowadays. Wake up to a normal world, do something insane, go home sweaty and tired.

"Still, think today went pretty go-"

" **HELLO MY BOY!** " All Might appeared from behind a brick wall.

"Oh um, hi Mister All Might, sir." Izuku paused wondering what could be happening. Was he going to berate him like he had earlier? That didn't make sense, he had seen him at the disaster that was currently downtown. "What are you doing around these parts?"

" **I came to see you of course, it is of GACK.** " All Might keeled over, a very sharp spray of blood coming out of his mouth. Izuku ran over to assist him but he stop as the pro hero rose a hand. "I'm fine, don't get worried. Besides, if you accept what I'm about to offer than you'll be seeing that quite often."

"What do you mean? What kind of offer are you talking about?" Izuku questioned with a weary eye.

"I saw everything you did today." Izuku's eye widened. "I saw you save that boy from his burning home, how you almost died as you did. And afterwards, you ran to save your friend." All Might smiled, turning towards Izuku. "A hero doesn't always have the luxury of planning out a rescue. Often times we have no idea what we're doing."

"I was only trying to help. I heard the kid scream and a saw Kaachan's eyes and thought… nothing. I wasn't thinking when I did it. I tried to plan but when things got to the breaking point I just moved.

"I know." All Might put his hand on Midoriya's should. "In time you will understand that it takes true heroism to do such a thing. I may not look it, but this job has aged me. Everyday I see more and more villains rise, people you wouldn't believe could exist in this world. It chips away at me, it makes me feel as if all my work is for naught. Somedays I wonder if I have ever made a difference."

"Of course you have!" Izuku declared. "You make all the difference. People look up to you because you save others with a smile on your face. How could the hope you give everyone noit make a difference? You're the irreplaceable symbol of hope."

"Thank you." All Might said. " Because if it wasn't for you I might have lost that hope. For all the heroes out there today, it took a brave boy without a quirk to even defend himself to stop a rampaging villain. I was wrong Izuku, you can be a hero, and I intend to help. I want to train you and better yet I want to give you something that can make you even better hero."

"What could that be?" Izuku was wide eyed at the prospect of training from his idol. Anything he could give him would just be icing on the cake.

"My quirk," All Might grinned.

 **Quick AN: I re-read all my previous chapters and realized that I was uploading the rough drafts. I'm going to go through and rectify this so go back and read them again if you want. I guarantee that the chapters will have better quality and grammar.**

 **Also a new update schedule, from now on it's every other Sunday.**

 **PEACE OUT MY CHILDREN!**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

The Love of Reading: hope you like this one

hec he got a hat: Trust me, he will.

23: Thanks as always.

Mitarashi Misato: Give it some time, it's going to happen but not in this chapter.

DragoonSensei: Thanks man, I going to keep doing my best.

* * *

Izuku hopped from foot to foot, anxious for Kylie to return. She had gone to get more weights to add to his ankles and wrists, and once she came back he would be off to an out of the way beach. He wasn't completely sure why All Might wanted to start his hero training there but he wasn't really going to complain. How often does a simple civilian get training from the top pro hero. Joy was rolling off of him in waves, manifesting as a beaming smile.

"Hey Izuku?" Yujiro spoke from inside a ring. He looked no worse for wear leaning against the ropes as he flicked the sweat off his brow. His opponent however, lay on the opposite end, sweating buckets and gasping for air. "I know you're super happy about this new, super secret training. I get that you can't say anything about who it is that's training you, but do you think you could tone down the smile?"

"Why would I need to do that?" Izuku's grin threaten to split the ends of his mouth (there is no way that doesn't hurt).

"For one thing, you haven't noticed the bleeding cut on your forehead." Izuku, still grinning like a mad man, felt above his brow and sure enough there was a warm red liquid trickling down. Yujiro handed Izuku a wet towel while continuing his warning, "Kylie will be back in a sec and you'll be on your way to wherever. Don't pass out from blood on the way."

Izuku stopped his hopping, but the grin never left his face. "I'm not trying to worry you, I'm just excited. Really excited. If I could just tell you," Izuku rolled his shoulders trying to relieve some of his tension, "You'd understand how incredible this is to me."

"I don't need to know what it is to know that it means a lot to you." Yujiro held out a fist towards his young friend, "Just try not to overdo it. I know you've got spirit, but sometimes your body can't keep up."

"No promises." Izuku let his gaze linger outside towards a rising sun, "I've gotta give it my all if it's going to mean anything."

The older of the two sighed, "I figured, but hey, what's the harm in hoping. Don't get too banged up out there, Kylie's not gonna give you a free pass if you come in tomorrow with a sling."

"You're goddamn right I won't!" Both young men turned to the older woman who leveled a square gaze at two green eyes, "If you get hurt I expect you to be here extra early. Nobody here's a healer but Yujiro and I can do first aid, which is the long way if saying _Yujiro_ will fix you."

"Thanks Kylie, that's really nice of you to offer."

She snorted at him, "That's not an offer, that's an order. I patch up my punching bag when it rips, why should you be any different? Catch." She tossed 4 black bars to Izuku, one for each appendage.

Izuku chuckled to himself while he attached the new weights. "I saw that coming but I had to give it a shot." He held his hand out to the door.

"Izuku." Midoriya stopped just short of the handle, turning to face his teacher. "Whatever training you're doing, I need to know about it."

"Kylie," he sighed, "I made a promise not to tell who was training. I hate keeping secrets but it really is important."

"Oh, calm down ya big baby." She waved her hand at him, "I'm not gonna force it outta you, I just need to know what you're _physically_ doing. If I make you doing something too intense you could get injured, we'd be setting you're progress back by months."

"Oh." Izuku relaxed, "I guess you really are concerned-"

"Then who would I beat on while you're gone, Yujiro? That got old years ago."

Izuku paused. Knowing Kylie, only half of what she said had been a joke and he didn't particularly care which part. With a sigh and a grin he stated, "I'll let you know every detail tomorrow morning. Bye for now."

Izuku let the door close on its own before starting his run to the beach. At most it was 10 miles, nothing compared to what Kylie already had him do. Kylie was left to stare at the spot he had left. It might have been a trick out the light but the brat had smirked at her before he left.

"Hey Kylie," Yujiro walked over carrying a sandbag, "Masaki got a sprained ankle yesterday, I think she might need to… What's up? Why're you staring at the door?"

"Nothing," she said, taking the equipment to hang it up.

"Are you alright?" Yujiro rarely saw Kylie lose focus like this, it was quite bizarre. "Did Izuku say something before he left?"

"Nothing too important." Kylie let a warm smile worm its way onto her features. "I think he's starting to grow on me Yujiro."

"I don't think I've ever heard those words come out of your mouth. Ever. Not even for me."

"Maybe you should have been more enthusiastic about training." She shrugged her shoulders at his exasperated look.

"I begged!" The young man threw his hands to point at the ground. "I was gravelling right where you stand!"

"Were you? Must of been a halfhearted effort, I don't remember a thing."

Yujiro threw his arms up, "I'm gonna go talk to Zencho. She at least knows how to treat a human being."

"Actually, I need both of you down here."

"I thought you said it was dangerous for her to be seen," Yujiro started, motioning to all the trainees. "Aren't there a few to many eyes around?"

Kylie hummed appreciatively while grabbing a chair to hop onto. "ATTENTION IDIOTS!" All eyes turned to the older woman next to the exit. "WE'RE CLOSING UP SHOP EARLY TODAY, SO YOU HAVE UNTIL I FINISH THIS WATER TO LEAVE! ANYONE STILL IN THE BUILDING AFTER THAT TIME IS GOING TO BE MY PERSONAL HELPER FOR THE NEXT MONTH! I NOT GONNA HAVE TO REMIND YOU ABOUT THAT JOB'S RESPONSIBILITIES AM I?"

At that declaration, the occupants of the gym scattered. Weights were hastily racked and stations sloppily cleaned before the dozens of trainers fled the building. In less than five seconds the room was empty, save Yujiro and Kylie.

"I still got it," Kylie grinned.

"Right, I'm gonna go get Kencho then." Yujiro began his walk to the attic but the girl in question was already waiting at the top.

"What's going on down here," she queried. "Who's so important that you had to send everyone out?" The young woman made her way down the ladder pulling up her hood as she set foot on the floor.

"Did you know someone named Aizawa in your timeline?" Kylie saw a subtle flinch run through the young women.

"I knew him, yes." She pitched her voice slightly, "Is he coming."

"He'll be here in a few minutes, so wait down here with Yujiro while I go get a few things." Kylie marched off leaving the two young adults alone.

Yujiro sat beside the silver haired mystery. Even indoors she refused to risk her visage being seen by unwanted viewers. Thankfully she was more open with her words than she had been just a few weeks prior. Then again, with Yujiro and Kylie being her only options to talk to, she tended to ramble on about the things that seemed familiar.

"Yeah, I remember going to movies on my time." Yujiro sighed but the sow haired maiden seemed to not notice. "I really liked action movies, you know? Like the ones that had a hero rescuing innocents and stopping the bad guy. They always had those never give up attitudes, just like my brother."

Yujiro looked at her incredulously, "You've told me this about yourself a million times, why am I just now hearing you had a brother?"

She deflated the smallest bit, looking down she replied, "It wasn't like he was my flesh and blood brother, but he took care of me. He protected me like I was his family, really he protected everyone like they were family."

"He sounds like he was a real knight in shining armor." Yujiro smiled at her.

"He was," she smirked. "He'd put his life on the line for a total stranger, and he'd smile about it the whole time."

"Was he…" Yujiro hated to ask but he wanted to know more about her, "Was he one of the people that died?"

"After the first attack, he went out into the city to help with rescue. He was in one of the toppled skyscrapers helping clear out wreckage, looking for survivors. Then a second wave hit." Yujiro felt the pit of his stomach drop, Zencho continued on in a smaller voice than before, "The first attack was just to lure out support heroes and workers. The next was to wipe all of them out. He was the second person close to me that I lost. The first was my other brother, murdered by All For One personally."

"But you came back to change that, right?" Yujiro leveled his gaze with her, "You came back to make sure that no one is going to have to wake up to that day?"

"Among other things." Zencho let out a deep breath, rubbing her neck, "It wasn't one thing that let the villains control the world Yujiro. By the time I was born dark clouds were already brewing, conditions to the perfect storm that coalesced into the worst extinction event in modern history. I came back to make sure those conditions never come to be."

"And how do I fit into this exactly?" Yujiro chuckled to himself, disbelieving of what kind of effect he could have on such an event. "From what you've told me, which isn't much, I'm a key piece on the proverbiale chess board but I don't even know how. My quirk is next to useless, I mean, I connect sections of space to other sections of space. I've had a whole lifetime to try and make that useful, but it's been a pretty fruitless effort. I wasted all my middle school days trying to teleport, obviously to no avail."

"Well you don't have to worry about that. You might be useless now but I'm sure you'll find something to do until the time comes," Zencho smirked at Yujiro playfully.

"Well gee thanks." He scoffed. "You make me feel so special."

"Anytime buddy," she hummed, "If you're ever feeling down just come find me. I'm mean what are friends for right?"

"Well all my friends tend to be loud and annoying," the two young adults sharply turned to the newcomer in the doorway, only to relax at the sight of chronic dry eye and an altogether sloppy look. "Maybe friends are just supposed to test your nerves, prepare you for the really stupid people in life."

"Aizawa," Yujiro nodded to the man before motioning to the girl beside him. "This is-"

"Zencho I presume," he held out his hand, "Kylie told me about you."

She took his hand, "Did she tell you everything?"

"Let's see, time travel, ruined future, we all die. Am I missing anything?"

Zencho sighed, "Nothing that I won't be telling you today."

Suddenly Kylie shouted from inside a storage room, "That better be Shaggy out there!"

"My hairs in a band right now," Shoto shouted back.

"Like it makes a difference." She walked out with a crate, "Zencho start talking while I unload this crap."

"Okay," the young woman shifted, leaning forward and letting her hood down. "It started with the death of All Might. So many things happened, some many people died, but it was his that started the end of the world. No matter what happens, no matter what changes, this is the one thing we have to prevent."

* * *

Izuku slowed his pace to a brisk walk once the wooden gazebo came into view. This was the place that All Might had told him to go to at 6:00 A.M. Izuku had showed up to the gym very early and finished his training before breakfast just so that he could be here. Izuku looked down at his phone and saw that it was 5:45. Seeing as he was a few minutes early, he decided to walk around and get familiar with the area.

He was no stranger to the beach, it was just that he had never had the occasion or need to go to this particular section. Judging by the piles upon piles of wreckage and trash, he wasn't missing out on much. The pristine white sand was nearly covered by the mass of garbage that had accumulated from god knows where. The stench of the impromptu landfill was surprisingly absent, perhaps due to the overbearing smell of the ocean spray, or perhaps because there wasn't much organic waste. The majority of the piles did seem to be discarded metal and plastic.

"How would a place like this even come to be?" Izuku wondered aloud. Surely someone would have reported something like this. It wasn't uncommon for the government to have small time heroes or even academy students to do this sort of work.

"Years and years of illegal dumping on the other side of the river, upstream a couple miles in fact." Izuku recognized the voice, looking upwards to the top of a pile to see All MIght in his skinnier form. "You're here early Midoriya."

"Well I was really excited," the boy admitted. "I couldn't really help myself Mr. All Might."

"My name is Toshinori Yagi," he remarked. "As the one that's going to inherit my power I think it's only right that you know my real name."

"Right Mr. Yagi." Izuku's beaming smile was almost shining.

"Just Toshinori is fine too. Don't make a habit of calling me that though. In public, if you see me doing hero business, you still need to call me All Might."

"Of course I will." Izuku took another look at the pile Toshinori had jumped down from before gesturing to the area around them. "If you don't mind me asking, is this just the place you wanted me to meet you or is this where we are going to be training?"

"The answer to both is yes, young Izuku." All Might threw his arms wide, capturing the image of the entire, "To make sure you are powerful enough to inherit One For All, we need to toughen up you body. You are going to move all the trash on this side of the beach to that one." He pointed upstream a mile or two.

"Um," Izuku looked back to the building sized mounds of rubbish that stretched on for miles. "What would happen if I didn't have sufficient strength and I used One For All."

"Well I was able to use 100% immediately without any real trouble, but my mentor said that she broke her arms, and that was after a whole year of training. I'm going to run you for just over 10 months so if we don't do this? I guess you'd probably lose your limbs completely." All Might nodded to himself, not seeing the deadpanned look on Izuku.

"You seem pretty casual about my life being at stake, Toshinori." Izuku glared little daggers at the scarecrow like man.

"Worry not young man," in a instant he grew in size, filling out the previously baggy white shirt and green pants, " **I'll have you in prime condition before you know it! Now take off your shirt.** "

"What the hell kinda request is that!?" Izuku jumped backwards at the very uncomfortable request.

" **Cease your panic young Midoriya! I only mean to find out your current physical condition so that I can best train you,"** he held out his hands placating, hoping to avoid any more misunderstandings.

"Next time lead with that," Izuku huffed while complying with the request. Izuku hung his shirt on a metal pipe, leaving his chest bare to the rising sun.

" **I'm surprised young Midoriya,"** All Might turned back to the nearest pile of garbage. " **You have a deceptively athletic frame, perhaps this training will take less than the 10 months I presumed.** " WIth that, All Might reached into the pile and pulled out to large refrigerators. " **Let's begin Izuku, fill these with as much trash as you can and take it to the other side.** "

Izuku set to his task without a word, dumping as much loose metal and plastic into the appliance as he could. Once they were filled to the brim he tied a frayed rope around the both and begin to run, dragging them behind.

'That's quite the work ethic Midoriya, let's see what you can get done today.' All Might smirked at the boy who steadily picking up speed. 'I won't be regretting this decision.'

* * *

Just outside a familiar, worn down shack of a tavern sat a young man. He leaned back against a deteriorated wooden door, thumbs twiddling away at a handheld gaming console. It seemed that he was completely unaware of the world around him, his eyes never leaving the scream. With a sigh he closed his device, shoving into into his coat pocket and turning suddenly to the side. A black mist was waving hazily ahead of him alerting him to the return of his ally.

"Did you find her this time?" He asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"No, I looked over every square mile of the downtown area. There was no one even close to who you described." Kurogiri sounded tired, the search had obviously been draining.

"Then we'll try again later. Narrow your search to the business districts. If she wasn't just another rat of the city than she could become a problem."

"Are you sure you actually saw someone following you?" Shigaraki glared into the yellow eyes that floated in the black mist. "Is it possible that she was just going in the same direction as you? What if she-"

"I know what I saw!" he shouted. "She followed me for at least a mile. When I turned a corner I would wait. She peeked her head around first and then she would wait until she saw me start moving again." Tomura clenched his hands and ground his teeth. "She's with Nana, I know it."

"We have no proof of that," Kurogiri chimed. "If we start snatching everyone that we thought might be involved then Nana will only get suspicious. It's taken us decades to come even this close to finding her again, we can't afford to lose her now."

There conversation was halted by an opening of the door. Tomura stood a little straighter, along with the dark figure him, as All Might stood in the doorway, securing the latches to his trademark helmet.

"He is right Shigaraki, Nana and her associates will have to wait for now." He turned on a heel, walking deeper into the surprisingly spacious bar. "Come inside, we have new matters to discuss and it is time you learn the trade, so to speak. Some more recruits have joined and I'd like you to know them better."

"Are they of a special interest Lord All For One?" Kurogiri's question was met with a hum of contemplation.

"No," he finally said plainly. "They are, if anything, below average."

"Then why do we have to waste our time getting to know them?" Shigaraki's anger had dissipated, now replaced with confusion. "What purpose would it serve?

"Everything serves a purpose my disciple. Pawns are particularly useful when you want to understand the enemies tactics. Use them to probe defense or as disposable scouts. Never discard something for not comparing to another, you'll miss out on so many opportunities."

"I guess so," he plucked an ashen gray hand from his pocket and carefully placed it on his face, "So what are we going to be using these pawns for?"

"U.A. academy has stood as the beacon of hope for many years, gaining such credit as institute that gave the world All Might." At the end of the summer they hold and entrance exam to see which students are going to be attending classes in the fall."

"What are we going to do?" Shigaraki was letting a dark grin spread across his face in anticipation of all the things his mentor might say.

"We are going to introduce you of course. And all of our little pawns are going to assist us."

* * *

Izuku let his arms swing while he walked. Looking at him you wouldn't realize that he was in horrible pain, an understatement after two intense training sessions, the later of which lasted well into his afternoon. At the moment, the sky was a beautiful mesh of vibrant red and golden yellow, distracting him from his incredible hunger. The sun was going down but rather than head home, Izuku was deep in the city going to the barbeque place he and Kirishima had gone to.

"Weird," he thought aloud. "Kirishima sounded really excited over the phone, but he was trying to play it off nonchalantly. I wonder what could have him so hyped up, I mean besides something that involves manliness."

Izuku shrugged, he would find out when he got there. Looking at his progress, it was only a few minutes away, so that left him a bit of time to reflect on his training. If he were to put it into words, it was like his first day of training with Kylie, with a few added caveats of course. Namely hauling unreasonably large appliances across the beach, bare feet being seared on the hot sands much like the meat he intended to grill at the restaurant.

Izuku knew he'd have to be more careful with his training now. It would do him do service to

"Hey!" a shout alerted Izuku. He looked up to see a young man around his age standing in front of the barbeque restaurant. Midoriya was confused, he could have sworn the voice he heard was Eijiro's, but he didn't seem the be around. Instead this guy had deep red hair shaped like spikes, almost horns. "How do you like the new look?"

Then he saw it, despite the starkly different hair, they were the same features, the same eyes, that belonged to his friend. "Eijiro?" The young man smiled brightly at the other, "You look so different I didn't recognize you!"

"What can I say, it was time for a change." Eijiro drapes an arm around the green haired youth's shoulders, "That's not the only surprise you're gonna get tonight buddy."

Before Izuku could question his meaning he stopped. Izuku could only stare dumbly at the image before him. "You talk about her so much that I decided to meet see if she could come out hang out, I searched her up on the internet and got a Facebook account. That is her right?"

Izuku didn't respond, he was staring at Tsuyu, who was sitting two booths down with a drink in had. She looks up at him and smiles, "Hi Izuku, how have you been?"

"I've been...things." Izuku swallowed audibly, holding out his shaking hands to try and salvage the already burning wreck of this conversation. "I mean I've been training and stuff, I haven't actually been things. That would be ridiculous, what did I suddenly turn it a toaster and back since I last saw you. You probably already knew that and I'm just being Captain Obvious right now."

"Yeah but it's funny to watch you make the effort, creeper." Izuku jumped at the familiar voice, walking forwards he saw that it wasn't just Tsuyu in the booth, but Habuko too. Next to her was Satsuki who was carefully grilling a piece of meat, and Samidare who was playing his game.

"It does get kinda funny to watch you ramble like that man," Yujiro remarked, taking his seat next to Habuko which left an open space for Izuku to sit, right next to Tsuyu.

"Are you going to sit down?" the frog-themed girl inquired.

Izuku, who didn't want to say anything embarrassing again, just nodded and took his seat. He couldn't be happier to see her, but he couldn't be more disappointed in himself. This was just like every other time he met her. He was caught completely off guard and now he was going to make a fool of himself.

"Relax Izuku," he turned to the new redhead across from him, "You don't need to be so tense around friends. It's not like you're gonna get graded on this." He picked up a slab on beef on a wooden pick and tossed it to Izuku who deftly caught it. "Eat up," he said though stuffed cheeks, "I ordered some really good cuts this time."

Izuku looked around him and saw that everyone was relaxed, enjoying an evening out with friends. Even Eijiro, whom had only just met the others, was very engaged in a conversation with Habuko. Perhaps that was his problem, he didn't know when to loosen up. Right now, he just needed to relax let the words come to him, just like Kylie and Yujiro said, 'be yourself'. How could he get to know Tsuyu, or any of them, if he was constantly trying so hard.

Come to think of it, all the times he had really connected with everyone was when he had let go himself, allowed himself to be in the moment. With a deep breath he loosened his posture and turned to Tsuyu, "So, it's been a few weeks since I saw you guys...How's everything going?

"Everything's been pretty good, Habuko applied for Isamu Academy last week, she got accepted to take their entrance exam, I'm applying for U.A. Saturday." Tsuyu turned the heat on the grill down so as to not have to watch it while she spoke.

"That's great for Habuko!" Izuku smiled at Tsuyu, "I'm applying next week, but I think Isamu is one of the schools that U.A. partners with for training events if I'm remembering right."

"He probably is," Eijiro belched. "Izuku's got a freaky memory, spits random facts like tic tacs."

"Is that right?" Habuko mused, "Hey Izuku, who's the number 3 hero in the 13th prefecture."

"Ingenium." Izuku replied with a snarky sip of his water. "But that's this month only, and in the the national rankings he's 23rd and slowly rising."

"Okay," Habuko hummed, "That's a neat party trick, not as cool as juggling though."

"You would enjoy something that belongs in a circus," Samidare muttered, not looking away from the video game.

Habuko let out a deep breath before her eyes darkened a shade while staring at the boy. His body jolted and stiffened while she spoke, "Not being able to move for three seconds is a hefty price in a game, I hope you don't run out of lives."

"What did you do to him?" Yujiro wondered aloud.

"That's her quirk, she paralyzes people by looking at them. About a three second time limit but she can extend it if she puts in the effort." Eijiro gapped at the girl next to him but she chuckled.

"That's awesome!" Eijiro's amazement served to feed her gentle blush.

"Oh stop it, it's nothing special."

"You could say that again." Samidare glared at the tallest girl at the table before snatching away a piece of her pork.

"You little runt," the serpentine lass geowled, "Tsuyu I'm eating your brother, turn up the heat on that grill!"

"Izuku you should try the fish," Tsuyu handed him a stick. "It cooks a little faster and it's not as rough to chew through."

Izuku spared a few glances at the mock fight of Habuko and Samidare, before ultimately accepting the fish. If Tsuyu wasn't going to worry about it then it probably wasn't all that bad, and it wasn't like he hadn't seen the two argue before. Honestly, it was easy to see that they both enjoyed each other.

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, speaking through a full mouth. "This is pretty good."

"We should all do this more often," Tsuyu beamed, "It's nice going out with friends."

Izuku joyfully agreed while dodging the flying piece of chicken the Samidare had unsuccessfully thrown at Habuko. As the conversation went on and laughter echoed from the table, Izuku felt a deep warmth spread out from his chest. Be himself and let the conversation take a natural course, there was no better advice he could have followed. After all, he was enjoying his time with his friends because of some good advice. It was a rare experience for him, he would not waste it.

"Did Izuku tell you about how I paralyzed him and he smashed his head into a wooden post?"

'Damn it.'

* * *

 **This is the last chapter before the entrance exam, next chapter is going to start right off with Izuku walking into the gates. It might be rushed but I think we've spent enough time in the pre-canon and training.**

 **Comment on how I'm doing and I hope to enjoy.**

 **Moony is outty folks.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

 **Hey guys, just a quick explanation on why I'm a week late with the chapter, I recently got a second job (YAY! Money!), but it left me with a little less free time (Also yay, I don't have a personal life). Anyway, I'm still adjusting but the schedule should be safe, and depending on how this story is received, I might be posting a second story. Can you say Villain Deku?**

ToonTheBoi: Thanks man, it's cool to know that you like the story, hope you enjoy today's chapter.

Jhotenko: You are my HERO! I really enjoy your stories, thanks for the advice.

Falcore-man: i'm gonna have to go back and correct those, thanks for letting me know.

Spiralturtle6: I hope you're ready then, cause this one I'm pretty proud of.

allen Vth: Yes, time travel was used, but the rest you'll have to wait for. Also Tsuyu POV in this chapter.

Lazymanjoones96: Thanks.

hec he got a bat: I wanted it to feel organic, you know, like something that can plausibly happen. I hate ex machinas.

DragoonSensei: Here comes the next big saga, Entrance Exam!

Mitarashi Misato: Me alegro de que haya disfrutado, y no puedo decirlo hasta que sea el momento.

23: Glad to hear it.

Jerrend: Here it is.

 **Final Note: FOr those of you who don't know who Jhotenko is, that's the guy that wrote When Harry Met Wednesday, one of my all time favs. So freakin cool that you're following my story.**

 ***clears throat* I'm done fanboying, please enjoy.**

* * *

Izuku waited in front of a small shop across the street from two gargantuan gates. Behind the towering structures lay his future, his first true test in becoming a hero. After months of training with two of the most intense instructors known to man, after years of rejection and pity, after a lifetime of self-doubt and fear eating at him like a cancer, Izuku was here. Last night he had hardly slept, his mind racing with all the possibilities and that were behind those ivory gates.

Midoriya walked forward. He had been at the shop for hours watching the crowd in front of the entrance slowly build. The first to arrive had been a tall young man with very square features and a neatly combed navy blue hair. His entire outfit screamed runner, and the exhaust pipes that stuck out of his calves solidified the the idea of a speed based quirk.

After that, a shorter blond boy that would sparkle at random times, next was a rather bubbly girl with pink skin and...antlers? Horns? Protrusions. Over the course of two hours, the area accumulated dozens of students, all buzzing with anticipation, and fear. Izuku knew that he wasn't the only one staking his future on becoming a hero; in a way it was comforting to know that he wasn't the only anxious participant.

He had just reached the edge of the crowd when he saw a familiar face approaching from the side. "Hey, Kirishima!" Midoriya greeted his friend with a knuckle tap, "What're the odds of us having the same testing location?"

"Pretty good it looks like." Kirishima grinned while scanning the crowd. "That's a lot of people, Izuku."

"Well then," Izuku grinned, "Let's show them our best."

"Hell yeah!" Kirishima pumped his fist in the air, "We're gonna wreck this place!"

"You two are being too inconsiderate." Izuku turned to see the sprinter themed boy pointing an open palm at them accusingly, "Everyone here is taking this seriously, if you only came to play games than you should leave."

"Hey!" Kirishima shouted, "We have as much riding on this as anyone else! It's completely unmanly to say that to someone you don't know anything about."

"Humph," the boo pushd up his glasses. "If there was a robbery in progress I wouldn't have to interview everyone to know who was the offender." Making a slicing motion at them with his left hand he said, "You two are being disruptions to everyone that's trying to focus."

Before Eijiro could growl at the boy Izuku stood in between them. "We don't mean to be distractions, but this is important to us, and you don't have the right to act all high and mighty. You don't know us."

"Riff raff are riff raff, and I'm not the one being rude." With that final word, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the crowd.

Kirishima huffed, "That guy's a buzzkill."

"Don't let it get to you," Izuku smiled. "This is the last hurdle before we get into U.A."

"That's right it is," Kirishima returned to his upbeat demeanor, "Let's ace it and show that guy where he can shove-"

"HEY BUDDY!" In a flash, Kirishima was talkle-hugged by a pink-skinned girl.

After a moment of confusion Izuku tilted his head, "Oh, it's the antler girl."

"Excuse you, they're horns!" the excitable lass barked back.

Izuku raised his palms, "Sorry, they just look a lot like antlers." As the intensity of the glare increased Izuku quickly changed his tune, "But after proper inspection it's very clear that those are horns and nothing else. Obviously I was having trouble seeing before." Izuku began to sweat under the scrutiny of the girl before him, hoping she would stop glaring at him.

"Well it was an honest mistake, so I won't hold it against you." The stark 180 in demeanor did little to ease Izuku, "Back to you Kirishima."

"Oh so you do know this girl," Izuku semi-asked as he helped his friend to his feet.

"Yeah, this is Ashido. The girl I told you about a while back." Kirishima had a smile on his face, but there was a weakness to his voice, an insecurity in his tone. Even his body language had shifted, leaning away from either of them and slightly hanging his head, "Mina, this is Izuku, he's a good friend I met a bit before the summer started."

The girl quickly, and rather violently, shook Izuku's hand, "Hi there Izuku, any pal of Eijiro's is a pal o' mine."

"Likewise." Izuku kept his response short and more curt than he meant to. It wasn't that he had any measure of disdain for her, but she had inadvertently contributed to the deeply self-loathing nature of the his friend. "So, you prepared for the exam?"

"Hell yeah!" She began to shadow box the air in front of her, "I'm ready to bust up anything they can think of throwing at me."

"Let's hope so," Izuku crossed his arms over his chest, " I'd hate to have to say goodbye to a new friend so quickly."

"You're pretty confident in yourself green guy,, but what makes you think you're so sure fire to get in?"

"I've got a promise to keep," Izuku unfurled his arms to crack his knuckles, "Nothing could keep me from this academy."

"Careful Izuku, you don't want to jinx it." Midoriya beamed at the familiar croaking that sounded off from behind Mina. "But like you said, a promise is a promise, and I know you'll keep yours." Tsuyu gave a warm smile that Izuku reciprocated.

"Hiya Tsuyu," Izuku blushed for a moment but kept on, "I guess we all got the same testing location, that's pretty incredible considering the thousands of applicants and dozens of testing sites."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he knew all those locations by alphabetical order," Eijiro chuckled from next to Mina.

"I know the first few, and that's nothing to be ashamed of." There was a short pause between the small group before three of them burst into a quiet fit of laughter, leaving Mina to stare at them.

"Is there something I should know to make this make sense?"

"Don't worry," Eijiro patted her shoulder, "You'll understand when you go through your first murmuring episode with Izuku."

"Right, that clears everything up," Mina tone had a sarcastic drag but Eijiro laughed it off.

"I don't want to spoil it for you, it's an experience you won't forget." Eijiro carried on with Mina, not leaving the area but slipping into a one-on-one conversation, Tsuyu and Izuku followed suit.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" she asked, a mild concern in her tone. "I mean, these tests can be dangerous. You're allowed to bring equipment you know, maybe it's not too late to go run and get some?"

"Don't worry Tsuyu, I know what I'm doing. And it turns out I'm not as quirkless as I thought." Izuku felt a cold shiver run down his spine, hating the fact that he had to lie to her, but this was information that could destabilize their society. The quirk of the strongest hero could be transferred, information like that did not belong in enemy hands. "It was a high stakes situation and then out of nowhere I just used it."

"So you got a quirk now huh, in that case you have something of an advantage." Tsuyu scanned the crowd with her finger on her lip in her standard thinking pose, "How many people here have month's of combat training."

"Everyday was like another layer of hell," Izuku felt along his left side, in the space under his rib was a still tender scar, one of many that now littered his body. "But it was worth it."

* * *

 **The Training Beach, 4 Months Prior, 5:00 AM at the break of dawn.**

 _Toshinori Yagi, better known as the prohero and beacon of hope, All Might, arrived to an interesting scene. No, an incredible scene, in fact, it was no less than breathtaking. As he walked in his skinny form across the beach, he was greeting by the site of pristine white sand. Aside from the occasional patch of grass, the entirety of the beach was spotless. No broken glass, no ruined machinery, just a clear stretch of sand. The setting looked appropriate for a family picnic._

 _Toshinori gapped at the site before. His young disciple, with 4 months to spare, had completely removed the mountains of trash and wreckage, leaving behind an unrecognizably beautiful shoreline. Quickly transforming into his hero form, he leapt into the air to see exactly how thorough of a job Midoriya had done._

 _Every inch of the coastside was cleared of trash, and for a moment, All Might felt a swell of pride. Never did he doubt Izuku's convictions, as the young boy's every action was dedicated to his dream, but only now did he truly feel the determination, the sheer grit the boy possessed. Scanning the area once more he saw a figure lying in the sand. For a moment he was afraid it was a victim of an attack, but he let out a breath of relief at the familiar mop of dark green curls._

 _After a safe landing, and reverting to his true form, Toshinori walked towards his resting pupil. "Wake up Izuku." Toshinori smiled brightly, "I have something to tell you."_

 _Hearing the call of his name, Izuku stirred from his rest to see his mentor standing over him with a beaming smile, "I am proud of you Izuku."_

 _He paused, looking around him, feeling the sand beneath his hands, the sea breeze on his features, desperately eliminating any possibility that this was some wonderful dream. "W-what?"_

" _I am proud of what you've done, proud of who you are, proud of what you are going to be." Toshinori placed a gentle hand on Izuku's shoulder, "You are the finest young man I've ever known, and I'm proud to know that I can be the one to help you become a hero."_

" _Toshinori-san," Izuku could hardly breathe, tears burning on the side of his face._

" _Stand up my boy, it is time I give you something."_

 _Izuku nodded slowly, rising from the ground to his full height. As he did the light hit his body, bringing to sight a worn vessel. Many scars, light and deep, small and large, littered his body from the days when he would forgo his own safety for the sake of training. It was brimming with strength and vigor, for he had worked himself into the ground nearly every day._

 _Izuku squared his shoulders and looked up into All Mights eyes. "This is a power given to me by my mentor, and it is one I am giving to you."_

 _Izuku let a smile grow on his lips, this was one of his, if not the proudest moment he'd ever had._

 _All then swiftly plucked a stray hair from his head before presenting it to Izuku, "Consume this hair."_

 _Izuku sucked in his cheeks before starring strangely at the hero, "Consume what?"_

* * *

After the hours of waiting and a short speech from pro-hero Present Mic, Izuku and all the other

prospective students were huddled at the front of the gates once more. They were going to open in less than a minute, and the tension mounted with every breath. Izuku spared no glances to the side, eyes firmly glued to the crack of the entrance. Tsuyu, Eijiro, and himself had decided to go it alone for the test. They were fast friends always, but this was the day of days, and now was the time to show their individual talents to the board that would be deciding the fate of their enrollment.

Izuku heard something that sounded like the revving of a motor, possibly the boy in the tracksuit that had admonished him earlier. He didn't afford it a look however as he heard a echoic snap, a breaking of a seal, an opening of the gate. There wasn't enough time to blink before a burst of electricity crossed over Izuku's body.

"Full Cowl!" Izuku roared as he launched himself into the arena, making a made dash towards the center of the makeshift city. The tall runner had made a mad dash past him, obviously having the speed advantage, and a few others were keeping pace with him as well, but as they started to reach the intersection the large group splintered. All at once the air was full of clashes of metal and the sounds of combat.

Amidst the increasingly explosive battleground, Midoriya spotted a large green mech with 8 appendages, each adorned with sharp silver pincers. A disturbed, mechanized combination of scorpion and octopus with a single glowing red eye. Izuku pressed off the ground, launching into the air to reach a flag pole. With his feet held firmly the the metal, Izuku jumped again, shooting like a bullet right past three of the appendages that reached for him, once he had flown to just behind it he reached out.

Izuku's fingers gripped against the cool metal before he planted his feet on the ground and slammed the machine down. The green shell shattered leaving the inner workings to pile out. After the light faded from the center of the creature Izuku moved on.

'One down, let's find another!'

Izuku bounded off after another machine, leaving behind the scraps that had been partially flattened by its impact of the concrete.

* * *

Tsuyu cracked the glass eye of another machine, the soles of her feet buried into its front. As the goliath fell she left her mind drift off task for just a moment.

'Izuku seemed different.' She hopped atop a building to gain a vantage point, spotting another machine about to drop down on an unsuspecting fighter, 'He's not as nervous as he used to be but he's almost never that confident.' Tsuyu whipped her tongue forward, plucking the student out of harm's way and allowing the two machines to slam into each other.

'And what's more, he has a quirk now. I saw him use it at the start gate.' The two machines corrected themselves while Tsuyu went higher onto the building, 'Quirks aren't so spontaneous, if he was told he was quirkless by a doctor than that would have to be it.' Tsuyu waited until the machines began to follow her before leaping off the building and onto another. This time the second mech wasn't able to stop itself in time and it crushed the first against the wall.

'Something would have had to change in him on a biological level for his quirk to manifest now and not when he was a child.' Ducking under the remaining machine Tsuyu wrapped her tongue around its waist. She jumped over the building and yanked her upper towards the ground. The machine broke through the railing and began to plummet down onto another, crushing them both and scoring Tsuyu another 5 points.

'Unless his quirk wasn't natural.' Tsuyu began to raise her finger to her cheek, now in deep thought. 'Is that why he trains so much, was he preparing his body for some foreign power.'

Tsuyu sighed in a open show of rare sadness, 'Am I overthinking this whole situation, or is he really hiding something from me?'

The sadness was replaced by resolution, 'He's my friend, and it doesn't matter whether it's natural or not. I trust him, and if he really wanted to keep this from me that's his choice.'

"I've been standing around for too long," she told herself. "I need to find more machines."

Tsuyu paused to look around for any roaming bots. 'I'll just ask him after this, if it's really something important he'll let me know. And if not, I'll find out."

* * *

Around the city, the air shimmered. A light haze, almost indistinguishable from the natural surroundings erect from the Earth. The barrier was placed without a sound, and if it hadn't been a silent occurrence than the sounds of battle would have masked it.

Immediately following the placement of the barrier, a person was heard clearing their throat. The sound reverberated from the sky. The machines didn't cease their attacks but the students were drawn to the noise. "Hello little heroes." All that looked up into the sky were greeted with a large projection image of a dark mask with a billowing smoke forming new shapes like a Rorschach image. "All of you have chosen to apply for U.A., the most prestigious hero academy in the world. Those are quite the standards you'll be living up to, should you be accepted of course."

Suddenly the machines began to freeze, the harsh light of their pseudo-eyes turning a sharp orange. A simple one pointer that stood of four legs and wielded clubs for hands rotated on is pelvis. One of the clubs came crashing down onto the temple of an unassuming test takers, who crumpled to the floor in a heap. The swift and unprovoked brutality of the attack shocked some of the nearby students. Unfortunately, it was a less than isolated occurrence.

One by one, screams filled the air as all of the machines began to turn on the adolescents, lethal force was now being applied. The sounds of shearing metal and anguished screams filled the air. The masked figure made a sort of hum before he clicked his teeth and wagged his finger at the students, "For such ambitious young people, this test is far too simple. Now that won't do, all of you are supposed to be the future of this world's safety. If you can't handle yourselves with simple puppets like these then how do you expect to defend civilians from real villains."

Further into the city was Izuku dodging out of the way of a particularly nasty looking three point droid. The metal tentacles began to spin around its torso until the machine stood at the center of a sort of helicopter blade.

Izuku dashed towards it, ducking under the deadly buzzsaw and threw a jab at the torso. The sizeable dent his fist left in the metal wasn't quite enough to stop the assault however, as the blade continued. Izuku did his best to escape the range of the weapon but it nicked his cheek, not a deep cut but it bleed freely. 'Just another blemish,' he thought.

Izuku prepared to go back at it but the window next to him exploded into hundreds of little shards. The sound of a bullet leaving a chamber rang clearly and Izuku realized that a second machine had begun to fire on him. Izuku tried to jump away but another near swing of the humming buzz saw prevented him from any kind of retreat.

Trapped between two deadly mechanizations he began to construct a plan, 'What can I do in a situation like this, I could really use some sort of weapon but I didn't bring any equipment. Dammit, there's gotta be something. Maybe I should overclock Full Cowl, just enough to take care of this. I may break a bone or two but at least I'll live.'

Izuku did his best to avoid the flurry of blades and bullets, quickly preparing himself to use 10% of One For All but a familiar shout halted his progress.

"Izuku, duck down!" Following the instructions Izuku slipped under another spray of bullets while a figure charged forward. The saw blade of the first machine attempted to bisect the newcomer but it only bounced against his arm. Kirishima tackled the robot into a wall, bringing a small building down onto the both of them. Izuku turned his attention onto the rapid fire gun on the shoulders of the other machine.

Grabbing the first couple stones he could reach, Izuku hurled them at the weapon with pinpoint accuracy. The rocks crushed the spinning turret, and Izuku rushed in to finish the machine. With a practiced form, Izuku kicked through the torso of the machine, leaving it a sparking mess of metal and wire.

Turning around Izuku saw the form of Kirishima rising from the rubbled, pull a part of his opponent out of its chest piece. The saw blades fell to the ground lifelessly, and he turned to his green haired friend with a questioning gaze.

"Izuku," he walked over to question his comrade, "What the hell is going on? Who was that in the sky hologram? Why are all the machines going terminator on us? I saw a kid get gunned down earlier, he's alive but the weird grape things on his head were crushed and leaking, it didn't look to good."

Izuku leaned against a wall to catch his breath, whatever had caused the robots to turn had given them an upgrade, aside from the lethal force, they were tougher to break through and the attacks came faster. "I don't know, maybe the guy in the sky has some quirk that lets him control machinery, maybe he just hacked all of them, it doesn't matter right now. Some of these students are too hurt to fight and the machines don't get tired or care if we do. We need to move as many people as we can to the exit, if we hold our ground there then we can just wait until some proheros arrive."

Kirishima turned on his heel and began to run down the street, yelling back to Izuku, "There were a lot of explosions this way, I'm pretty sure there were a lot of students too. I'll try to get them to the gates, see what you can do elsewhere."

Izuku nodded, kicking off the wall he clung to a window sill. He began to scale the tallest building in the vicinity, once again he was left to his thoughts with new concerns beginning to storm his mind. 'Is Tsuyu okay? We didn't group up and I don't know how she was doing against the normal machines much less these new ones.' Izuku pulled himself over a ledge of a skyscraper, trying to clear those darker thoughts, No, Tsuyu's smart and capable. She wouldn't be cornered by those machines, if worse came to worst she could escape no problem.'

Jumping up to avoid crossing some fragile looking exposed wires, Izuku bit back some bile. 'But what Kirishima said bothered me. There are dozens of kids here, and not all of them are battle ready. How many injuries are there already.'

Stealing his stomach Izuku pulled himself up to stand on the edge of the roof. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled to everyone below, amplifying his voice using One For All, " **EVERYONE GET THE THE ENTRANCE GATES, WE CAN HOLD OURSELVES THERE UNTIL THE PROHEROES ARRIVE!** "

Izuku scanned the streets and let a relieved smile grace his features, a sigh escaped his lips despite his now raw throat. He could see most of the students begin to migrate towards the gates, and the few that didn't were in battle against the automatons.

"I can't make them run any faster but I can help everyone still fighting." Izuku lept off of the skyscraper and onto the wall of a another. He travelled as fast as could bouncing from building to building, making his way towards the nearest scuffle.

I didn't take him long to get to the first conflict, the tall boy with the six arms and silver hair was going blow for blow with a three-pointer the size of a truck. Izuku could that the octopus-like lad was clearly going to be the victor, but for the sake of time he decided to intervene.

He rocketed down onto the green armor plating of the offender before he slammed his elbow down on its head, the metal curled around his arm like foil. Using the opportunity the six arm lad reared back three fists before he launched them into the robot. The menace was left in pieces, shattered against a wall while the taller teen turned to Izuku.

"Thanks for the assist."

"Don't mention it," Midoriya weazed, throat still horse amplifying his voice.

"Hey," the boy remarked, "You're the guy that yelled from the skyscraper."

"My name's Izuku, and you should start heading back to the gates."

"I was going to, but these things are everywhere. I think there were some more fights going on down that that." He pointed towards the smaller buildings and Izuku nodded. "I'm going to help out before I make my way to the gates."

"Me too, let's get going." Just like that the pair were running towards another conflict, not noticing the prying eyes in the shadows, watching their every move.

* * *

Kirishima leaned against a wall while he nursed a cut on his chest. He had been using his shield near constantly and it was starting to wear on his stamina. So many machines and so many students trying to get away from them. Thankfully he was the only person helping with evacuations...kinda. He ran into a crazy blonde guy that was just ripping apart every machine he saw with a reckless abandon. Some kids were getting away from the fighting while he we setting off massive explosions, but it looked more like he was having a good time than helping anyone by intention. Still, it was a lighter load on Eijiro, and he was thankful to take it.

There weren't anymore students in the immediate area thanks to the message that Izuku sent out from the top of the skyscraper (Damn was he loud when he wanted to be), so he was using the time to catch his breath.

"Things sure took a turn for the worse huh." Kirishima nearly screamed at the surprise visitor, but settled at the familiar green hair of his friend.

"Tsuyu, you've gotta stop sneaking up on people." Kirishima smiled gently at her, "But it's good to know that you're okay. Run into any trouble on the way here?"

"I found my way out of most of the fights, and I pulled a couple students that got cornered by these droids." Tsuyu took a moment to look at the skyscraper in the distance. "Was that Izuku that shouted from the tower?"

"Oh yeah it was," Eijiro stood up, "Really got the message out there, now let's go. I cleared most of this area, no more students but plenty of droids."

Tsuyu nodded before she hopped onto a nearby wall, pulling Kirishima off the ground with her tongue. She set him down on a building before croaking, "Stick to the rooftops, not too many of those things can fly. And don't come down unless someone needs help." With a final nod she leaped away leaving Eijiro to start running towards the entrance to the city.

"How strong is Tsuyu? How strong is her tongue? I need to start having some discussions about my friends quirks because I don't remember Izuku having a loud voice quirk."

His musings were interrupted by a cold laughter. Stopping dead in his tracks he looked up into the sky to see the masked figure was once again in hologram form. "Well done little heroes, you're handling these pawns quite well. In fact, I think you're ready for something a little more challenging."

As if on cue, the ground began to rumble, buildings began to quake as a tremendous force started to shake the Earth. A mountainous form began to rise from the downtown area. "This is what you're instructors referred to a the zero-pointer, no?"

The giant android stood at full height, clearing over any skyscraper, and it was a sight to behold. Slowly it rose its arms, balling it's fists at the pinnacle of its arms' height, and for one awful moment, the occupants of the false city held their breath. The smaller robots ceased their attacks, retreating into the city, leaving the students to appreciate the magnitude of destruction the behemoth would unleash. Then it brought them down. Two crashing hammers of fists slammed into the Earth and the structures of the city fell like dominoes. The shaking of the city at its rise from the ground was a ripple in the pond compared to the tsunami of rubble and dust the leapt forward from this impact.

Eijiro began to sprint across the rooftops, knowing there was no way for him to conceivably outrun the approaching wave of destruction. In the moment before the wave could hit him, he harder every inch of himself and silently hoped.

Then he vanished. The form of the teenager, along with many others, disappeared underneath the wave of destruction.

* * *

Izuku gapped at the the monster of a bot that just laid waste to a good portion of the false city. A pulse of sickness hit him, and he dropped to his knees as a litany of horrible, unbearable thoughts crossed his mind. 'They could be dead. Tsuyu, Eijiro, every last person in that section of the city could be dead.' Izuku feel the sting behind his eyes as tears fell, and he once again felt the hollow sense of helplessness. He hated it, hated himself for being victim to it. He despised the thought that anything he could do was pointless.

He was vaguely aware of the hand on his shoulder shaking him, and the voice of the octopus boy shouting in his ear. "Izuku...Izuku!"

He only barley turned towards him, trying his hardest to rid himself of the dread. "We have to go! That thing might attack again and we don't have any cover."

"What if there dead?" Izuku felt cold and hollow, how could he not, "What if that wave just killed them all?"

"What if it didn't!" The boy dragged Izuku to his feet, "We don't know if anyone survived, and we won't if you die here! Look around you."

Izuku turned his head to the streets around him. Amidst the rubble and dust were whimpering teens. A boy clutching his leg to stop the bleeding, a girl trying desperately to lift a slab of masonry off off her chest. "We need to get everyone out of here now!"

Midoriya was unceremoniously dropped. The other youth was already starting to pluck people from the dirt, and with a deep breath Izuku shook himself to clear his mind. Now was not the time to wallow but the time to act. He ran to the nearest person around, a dark-blue haired young woman with headphone connections for ear lobes.

"Hey, stay still. I can lift the rock but you need to drag yourself out, okay?"

The young woman steeled her eyes and nodded. Carefully, Izuku began to lift the slab of stone off of her torso, and she quickly pulled her way out from under it. Once she was a distance away Izuku dropped the large piece of building.

"Can you stand?" Izuku crouched down to examine her leg. A few light scrapes littered the appendage but the major blotch of discoloration drew his attention. Internal bleeding, not surprising considering the massive weight that likely crushed her femur and ruptured her blood vessels.

"I don't think so, it feels bad, I think it's broken." There was panic in her voice, tears in her eyes, and she flinched every time she had to move her leg.

Izuku looked her in the eye, "Breath, just breath. I promise, you'll be okay. What's your name?"

"Jirou, my name is Jirou." Izuku nodded before he smiled at her. It was a gentle, warm, reassuring smile, and it made her just the slightest bit more comfortable.

"Jirou," Izuku said, "I promise you that I'll get you to safety."

Placing a hand under both of her knees, and one under her back, Izuku tenderly lifted her. She winced and Izuku slowed down. It was a slow process, but they didn't have all the time in the world. A thundering crack sounded behind them and Izuku turned to see the zero-poiner begin to walk forward.

It flattened the buildings it stepped on, and it took another step. More ruined structures. The pace was slow, groggy even, but is was definite and deliberate. The machine was heading straight for the gates, were everyone was gathering.

"Jirou," Izuku stated in a grave tone, "We have to move faster, and it's gonna hurt."

"Whatever happens, it's not your fault, I won't be holding grudges," she replied in solemn resignation.

Izuku began a quicker pace with Jirou tucked into his chest, slowly building into a sprint towards the gates. It took maybe 5 minutes, but they were finally there. Before him were dozens of students, all sporting their own battle scars, some worse than others. He scanned the crowd hopefully, needed to see his friends in the crowd. He set Jirou down and began to look around for anyone he knew.

"Hey," Izuku was stopped by the same sprinter boy as before. "You are the one that instructed that we meet at the gates are you not?"

Izuku sighed, "Yes, sorry that I didn't have much of a plan, after that."

"Don't be," Izuku was rather surprised, expecting this to be another admonishment. "It was as good a plan as anyone could make with the information at hand. Unfortunately there is something of a problem." He pointed through the gate and Izuku decided to stare through the crack of the entrance. On the other side was a hopeful sight, dozens of superheroes lined the street, but they were being blocked. A sort of force field was halting their progress.

"There seems to be some sort of wall keeping others from entering the arena. Until something can be done, we are unfortunately on our own. That of course means that we will be dealing with the zero pointer ourselves."

It was then that the rumble of the Earth stopped. The zero-pointer froze and the sky was alit by another hologram. This time the masked villain was joined by another. A grey haired youth that had a severed hand covering his face. The mask man spoke while motioning to the young man beside him.

"I'm quite pleased at how well you've all done for surviving this long. Well, most of you anyway." Izuku felt his hands clench at the implications, though it was unlikely that the masked figure could see that, "But as it is, what have you really accomplished. You've gone and destroyed some mindless drones with a simple attack pattern and premade, obvious weak points. How could that possibly prepare you for combat with real villains. Like this young man right here."

The grey-haired boy waved his hands lazily, "Hiya kids. I hear that all off you are here today 'cause you wanna be real life heroes." A sinister sneered stretched beyond the palm covering his face, and he spoke with a voice that sent a dark chill down the spines of the children. "Well, real life heroes, fight real life villains."

Without warning, the clearing the students were in was surrounded by swirling black vortexes. A blackish-purple mist waved off of the them and the people that began to walk out of them. One by one, dozens of villains began to stalk out of the darkness, grinning at the frightened children before them. Surrounded on all sides, the students began to cower.

Izuku saw this and shouted, "Everyone that's not injured needs to form the outer ring, everyone that's hurt needs to stay in the middle, provide support if you can! We only need to hold out until the pros can get through the barrier!"

"Why Shigaraki, isn't that a brave young lad." The masked figure chuckled, and the boy beside him hummed.

"He sure is." Tomura sighed in annoyance before issuing an order to the rest of the villains, "Kill him first."

 **Well, that's pretty ominous amiright. And if you're wondering, no Mineta isn't dead, but he sure as shit isn't gonna be in my story! I honestly hate the fucker, zero redeeming qualities. P.S. More Tsuyu and Eijiro POV in the future because I really like them as characters and I want to show everyone why.**

 **Leave a comment if you want to and thanks for reading, hope you enjoy. Next chapter is going to be in two weeks and I'll be going through and correcting some previous chapters before then,**

 **UNCLE MOON IS OUT, PEACE!**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

DragoonSensei: Glad you like it because the entrance exams end this chapter.

Guest: That's actually all I wanted to hear from my readers, thank you.

Hec he got a bat: Damn Right

allen Vth: What I love about MHA is that the villains grow just like the heroes do, so I wanted him to get out there and introduce himself.

Spiralturtle6: Ochako is fine, don't worry. Also, the Might Guy approval is one of the rarest medals in existence, I shall treat it with due respect and adoration.

PilotTheStarplestian:Izuku is far from perfecting his craft and some of his flaws are going to be explained. Thanks for the feedback and for liking the story. Aslo fuck that grape.

Jerrend: It will get worse, but I don't want it to be dark.

komodome: Thanks for the feedback, here's some things I can respond to. 1) I hate Mineta with a furious passion and even if I got paid to write this, no amount of money could force me to write him in. 2)10% is more like a boost with a time limit, it wouldn't break his bones at his point but it would cut down the duration of his use of One For All. Right now is him at 3% because his body has only had a few months to acclimate to the new quirk. 3)He's gonna have his own unique style, but I don't want to copy the manga/anime for everything. 4)The villains are going to be much more involved in the story than in the manga. 5) The M-rating is almost exclusively for Bakugou and this chapter especially.

ToonyTheBoi :I appreciate the encouragement.

* * *

The sky, despite it being the middle of the day, was an ashen gray. The barrier that prevented the escape of the test takers was also stopping any dust from dispersing into the environment, leaving the arena as bleak as their odds of survival. Over the section of the city that had been destroyed by the zero-pointers momentous display of power stood but a few buildings. Really, the remains of a few of the taller buildings that had toppled towards each other. They shook unsteadily with each step the behemoth took towards the gates.

It was there that a single figure could be found, clinging to the side of the tower opposite to the machine. She was almost totally flat against the glass surface, and she slipped down a few feet everytime the man-made threat shook the building.

Tsuyu Asui silently prayed that the monstrosity didn't turned around and smash the high-rise she was currently hiding on. It had been difficult enough getting to the height she had before that thing sent a wave of destruction through the false city. She craned her neck to look over the ruination, and immediately wished she hadn't.

"This is awful," she struggled to say behind light tears. Under the several upturned buildings were students, dozens of them. Some were pinned beneath large structures barely keeping them from crushing them, others were no so fortunate. A scene of death and destruction had been painted by the machine, and it looked as if it would craft another masterpiece at the gate.

"Why is this happening? Why are they doing this?" Tsuyu began to crawl down the tower, still speaking to herself, "Who was that man in the hologram? What does he gain from this? Who's got the power to challenge an establishment like U.A?"

Reaching the ground she hopped towards a student who seemed to be scantily dressed, a shamelessly revealing one-piece, who was pulling a large metal rod seemingly out of her arm. She girl had black hair ending in a sharp ponytail, and coal black eyes brimming with determination. "Hey, you look alright but were you hurt in the explosion?"

Tsuyu shook her head, "I was on a high-rise, avoided most of the blast."

"I made a dome to protect myself and a few others, I sent them to the gate like the boy from the tower yelled but I could use some help right here." The black haired girl then slammed the rod under the piece of stone in front of her before she rolled a stone column under it. "There's a student under here, but he's hurt and I'm not strong enough to lift this rock, help me pull down on this lever."

Tsuyu nodded, taking a position on the opposite side of the pole. "My name is Tsuyu Asui by the way." She planted her feet and started to pull with the other girl. "My friends call me Tsuyu."

"I'm Momo Yaoyorozu, " she strained, "But you can just call me Momo." The effort of the two began to see the lifting of the stone slab, and the voice of a newcomer from under it.

"You can call me Eijiro," the voice coughed. "But I think one of you knew that."

Tsuyu let a grateful laugh slip as her friend pulled himself from the darkness. "Eijiro!"

Once he was safely out from under the rock the two girls allowed it to fall, and Momo turned to her compatriots, "You know each other?"

"We're friends, we split up before the test started." Tsuyu pulled Eijiro to his feet only for him to collapse.

"Are you okay Eijiro? What's hurt?"

"It's just my leg, I'll be fine. Tsuyu, did you see what happened to Izuku?" Tsuyu looked away, concerned over her friend.

"He wasn't in the blast radius I think, but I'm not sure. Eijiro, go to the gate, I'm going to go find him, see if he made it all right."

"I can take him there after I get the others out from the rubble," Momo offered, "Do you think you can help?"

"No problem, I'm already feeling better." Eijiro punched into his hand. "Go ahead Tsuyu, we got this."

With a nod she prepared to leap away before someone roared from next to her. A charging figure rammed into her side, stopping abruptly and allowing the momentum of the attack to carry her away. She landed against a building, dazed from the pain and surprise of the attack, rolling out of the way of another charge. The narrow escape didn't mean rest however as another figure came down clapped his hands together.

When he fingertips touched a shockwave burst forth from between his palms. Tsuyu had no time to prepare herself for the oncoming blade of pressure, and clenched her teeth anticipating the pain. It didn't come however as a rounded hook plucked her out of the air and out of harm's way. She was dropped behind Yaoyorozu who then held the hook in an offensive stance.

"Who are you? Why're you attacking Tsuyu?" Her questioning was ignored as the charging figure began to race towards the her. Knowing the sort of damage he could do Tsuyu wrapped her arms around both Eijiro and Momo, leaping out of the way. Now in clear light, Tsuyu could see that the man was more of a monster, black skin and unnaturally sharp pupils. It was almost completely muscle, and it had a totally exposed brain for a head. The creature turned on a heel and jumped after them while the other figure, a skinny man with dirty blonde hair and large clap teeth sighed.

"Sorry about him, he doesn't do much talking from what I understand, but I've only know him for an hour or two so I'm not really an expert on the subject." Eijiro, still in mid flight, grabbed both girls and flipped himself toward the monster, hardening his arms and slamming his elbows into its eyes. To his shock his strikes did little more than lightly scratch it. "Anyway, if you still interested, we are here to kill you students. Nothing personal but all of us small timers got an offer from the big guy in the sky," he lazily pointed towards the area the hologram had been.

"Suffice to say, it was an offer we couldn't refuse." The beast pickup up the young lad and started to charge towards another building. It's path was intercepted when Tsuyu and Yaoyorozu both kicked its side. The beast dropped Eijiro before tumbling through a window.

"Well you shoulda said no anyway," Eijiro yelled from the ground, grabbing Tsuyu's hand to pull himself up. "Cause it's just you two against dozens of proheros and students confident enough to apply for U.A! If you were looking for an easy target you're dumber than your partner over here!"

The monster, as if rising to the insult, opened its maw. Inside its mouth were rows of sharp jagged teeth covered in chunks of meat and skin and a forked, black tongue. Faster than before, it charged at Kirishima who, instead of bracing for the impact, leaned on his good leg and jumped out of the way, pulling Tsuyu and Momo with him.

The effort proved to save their lives as the creature wasn't making to grab them like before. Instead, as they turned around they saw that it was biting into the stone and brick of the complex behind them. With a vicious snap of its jaws, it chewed through and then swallowed the chunk of building.

"Is that what you think, that we came here alone?" The blonde man began to laugh at the pair, "That's precious, the future heroes of the world are a bunch of gullible idiots!" The behemoth, having no interest in conversation began to square it's shoulders. "There are dozens of us here, I'm just the unlucky bastard that got sent to this section to pick off stragglers. Oh well, I'll just finish off some students while Nomu here takes care of business."

From it's leaning position, the now named Nomu opened its gaping maw again, letting out an ungodly roar. The force of the terrifying shriek began to shake the rubble and shatter windows. With it pointed directly at them, the three teens could only hold their ears and hope to survive the onslaught. But with the sound came the horrible stench of the Nomu's breath. It was a rancid odor, like long spoiled eggs and rotting flesh. As the screaming subsided, Tsuyu realized that she couldn't stand properly, the sound waves had damaged her inner ear, taking her balancing from her. Looking to either side she saw Eijiro and Momo in a similar state.

"Have fun kids," the villain called, "Nomu tend to get hungry fast, so do me a favor and die quickly. It's a damn pain to drag corpses just to feed this guy, the last student is still on his teeth if you didn't notice."

* * *

Izuku began to feel the extended use of One For All wear on his body. His current capacity was only three percent, an issue that All Might said he would overcome with time, but he began to wonder if he would ever get the chance. The villain he was trading blows with was much stronger than him, three percent of full cowl wasn't enough to phase him much less hurt him, and going any further definitely break a few bones. Seeing as this was his third villain since the grey haired boy issued his kill order, he didn't think he could risk losing the ability to defend himself.

Izuku gambled a glance to see if he could ask for help from anyone else but they were all otherwise occupied. The clearing was free of those dark portals but it was now full of villains, and while the majority had gone directly after Izuku in the beginning, they were now busy handling the other students or trying to get to the injured party in the middle of the foreground.

"Look alive brat." Izuku brought his eyes back to his fight only to have his neck caught in the crook of the villains arm. After a brief spin, Izuku was thrown by his next it the ground. He rubbed his throat, desperately trying to reopen his airways as the villain stalked over to him. "Shoulda kept your eyes on your own fight."

Izuku, grit his teeth and glared at the being before him, his face was covered in a mask but his eyes were revealed. They were filled with sadistic mirth, and as he raised his fist Izuku resolved to use a higher percentage of Full Cowl, even if it would take him out of the fight he could still do something as long as he was alive.

Fortunately, a friend was around to save him from such a risk. At that moment, Izuku felt his body pulse. It was like he was moving to the beat of a silent drum, and the vibration began to nauseate him. For second he wondered if this was some new technique from his attacker, but looking up he saw him in a much worse state.

The masked man began to clutch his sides. Keeling over, he began to foam at the mouth, desperately heaving for air. Whatever was affecting Izuku was ripping through the villain. It was hardly a minute before he fell to the dirt, unconscious, but breathing steadily. Izuku noticed that the vibrations he had felt were also gone. Looking around he saw the girl he had rescued from before, Jiro, pointing her earjacks in his direction.

"Infrasound," she yelled. "You can't hear it but you'll feel it no problem. I didn't hit you did I?"

"No, I'm fine." Izuku stood up, looking down to the now incapacitated man, "Is he gonna live?"

"Yeah, I only put him to sleep, but it won't last- MOVE!"

Izuku kicked away from the spot he was on in the nick of time. The area he once stood on was littered with needles and razors, some of them impaling the villain he'd just fought.

Izuku watched the growing pool of blood encircle his enemy before glaring at the thrower of the projectiles, "You killed your teammate!"

"So what," a women said from atop a building. "He tried to kill you, I think I deserve a thank you. So do me a solid and stand still!" The woman, a bit on the shorter side, raised her hands into the air revealing metallic grey nails. As quick as a flash, several sharp instruments seemed to grow from her fingertips. With a flick of the wrist she sent another spray of needles at the boy.

Knowing he lacked the natural agility weave through the approaching silver blanket, Izuku started running to the side, as the woman sent another spray he sped himself up, now thinking of a strategy.

'These people are ruthless, ready to kill each other for even a slight chance to take us down. I can't try to run through the crowd, she'd keep going, and maybe she hits a few villains but she'll definitely kill a couple students. I can't get close with her being so high up and throwing out weapons like that. I need something a can throw, but what.'

Quickly, he scanned the area, keeping one eye on the constant hail of metal. Almost everything he spotted would require him to go over three percent of One For All, which he'd been using all day. Even now he felt hairline fractures forming in his humerus and femurs. There needed to be a way to end this.

That was when he spotted the tall blue haired guy from earlier. He was running circles around a large villain that had a number of stone plates covering his body. It looked like he was having trouble getting through the stone hide to do actual damage. Izuku looked back to the woman on the roof, still firing away at him, and made his decision.

"Hey!" He caught the attention of the boy who looked at him inquisitively. "Switch with me!"

Looking at Izuku and then to the source of the raining metal that was following him, Iida yelled back, "I'm not sure how I feel about hitting a woman!"

Izuku, still dodging several kniven needles, and now kunai, rebuked, "How do you feel about knocking one off a building!"

"Not that much better!"

The villainess screeched from the rooftop, "I'll kill you both! Now shut UP!"

Midoriya's eyes widened as the onslaught of weapons and metal increased ten-fold. Slowly a number of nicks and cuts started to grow on his body. Through the pain Izuku was vaguely aware of the shrinking number of still standing students. Not turning his head he screamed at his comrade, "Iida, now is not the time to be chivalrous, switch with me and knock her off the building!"

Iida looked at the armor like plating of the villain he was fighting sighed. "While I'm doing this I would appreciate it if we could phrase it differently."

Like a jet Iida broke away from his fight and started to run towards the building the villainess stood. Almost at once she turned her attention to him and Izuku was allowed a brief respite. He analyzed the villain the new villain whom was now running towards them. A towering figure up close, and the thick plates covering he body looked to strong for him to break through, but there were plenty of spaces in between. Those weak points looked vulnerable enough.

The man took a wide swing at Izuku and at once saw his opportunity. The figure was slow, Izuku felt as though he could drag this fight out just to catch his breath. He wouldn't however, as there were plenty of students facing real threats that he could be helping with.

Izuku ducked under another arcing swing, dropping all the way to the floor and leaning forward. Feet planted firmly on the ground, Izuku pushed off while swinging his right fist up and into the man's ribs.

At the same time, Iida had finished running up the building. Now that he was closer the woman had abandoned any semblance of dignity. She flung her weapons at his with wild abandon only to miss as ran around her appearing to be a blur. On one pass around he shoulder-tapped her off balance, on the next he hooked his arm under her left and swung her off the building using his momentum.

It was also then that he found his feet to be still sliding forward. Tenya nearly flipped over the rails, but by skin of his teeth, held on to the edge of the roof. Still hanging by his one arm, Iida yelled back to Izuku, "She's off the roof!"

Izuku turned with his fist still buried under the armored villains ribs. The woman was indeed flung away from the roof, descending on another fight between student and villain. Quickly, Izuku moved closer to the villain he held, lifting him by bending himself backward. In a mighty heave, Izuku through the man and the flying villainess. She started to fling her weapons at the projectile human but they did little more than bounce of his platted stomach.

The momentum of the larger man carried him straight into the woman and the villain behind her. The crashing force of the three cracked the wall of a building, and the three students were able to breath once more.

"Iida, what the hell."

"What?" the taller boy demanded. "I didn't do anything."

"She was gonna kill us and you were worried about whether or not it was okay to fight back."

"It's very unheroic to harm a lady."

"I think there's an exception to villains," Izuku argued.

"Well we'll just have to argue about this another day," Tenya proposed.

"When, after you get us killed," Izuku pleaded.

"Um guys," the almost forgotten third student pointed out, "There are more villains coming this way."

The two boys snapped their heads to where he was pointing to see an approaching cloud of dust. As it grew closer Izuku began to feel tremors, not like the zero pointer, but almost like a continuous pulse. It was...familiar. It was almost nostalgic, but far from comforting.

Iida began to take a runners stance behind Izuku, "Careful Midoriya. This one seems to be a bit more dangerous than the ones here."

Izuku didn't seemed to hear him however. Instead he squinted at the dust cloud, now close enough to make out a figure on top of it. No, above it. They were just in front of it in fact. Izuku wondered if they could be propelling themselves forward with the wind, but then his saw a flash of yellow.

"DEKU!" Izuku now realized that it wasn't the dust cloud propelling them, but a series of explosion pushing them forward. The pulses in the ground were just at result of those burts.

"Did that villian just yell an insult at us?" Iida remarked.

"That's not a villain," Izuku groaned.

"YOU BETTER LISTEN CAUSE I'M NOT SAYING THIS AGAIN!"

"Then it's another student, that's a relief." Iida wiped the sweat from his brow. "We could use more help over here."

"He's not here to help either," Izuku grumbled.

"How are you so sure?" Iida began to slowly back out of the path of the approaching bomber.

"He's an old friend of mine," Izuku said plainly. "He's probably mad that we were fighting villains without him.

"SOME ANNOYING FROG GIRL AND A DUMBASS RED-HAIRED GUY SAY THAT THEY'RE OKAY AND ON THEIR WAY HERE!"

Immediately, Izuku his shoulders unwind. A bright smile accompanied his cheerful cry, "They're okay!?"

"MOVE THE HELL OUT MY WAY SHIT-HEAD!" Katsuki blew past all three students and landed right in the middle of the fray, grabbing two villains by the face while setting off an explosion in each hand. "THESE FUCKERS ARE MINE!"

"Your friend is very vulgar, and I don't think he's very concerned about the students around him." Tenya raised his hand to his chin and started to think aloud, "Those are very unbecoming qualities of an aspiring hero."

"Yeah we should do something before he hurts someone." Izuku then charged into battle with a grin, still brimming with cheer over the knowledge that his friends were alive and well enough.

Iida stood in awe at the destruction the two boys were laying out on the villains. Izuku seemed to fight with a renewed vigor while the other boy was a completely new beast, ripping into the villains with an almost sinister grin. Their numbers to to change as the villains fell like dominoes.

Speaking up once more, the third student wondered aloud, "Do we actually need to do anything now?"

"I'm not sure, I wasn't quite prepared for this turn of events."

* * *

 **A few minutes prior to the arrival of Bakugou at the major battleground.**

Ejiro rubbed at his sides, nursing the bruises that had formed from repeatedly being smashed into, and occasionally through, buildings. While he tended to his wounds he looked around. Early on, Tsuyu and Momo had realized that true to what the other one had said, the beast called Nomu was the quiet sort, and dumb too. The only thing it had tried to do at this point was crush them by charging at them and eat them, which was the admittedly more terrifying prospects of his afternoon.

That simplicity was, thankfully, what allowed Eijiro to survive so long, but it was also why he was taking so much damage. They hadn't been able to do much against the beast, and any wounds they did inflict were blatantly ignored by the monster. It was like a hammer tasked with straightening a nail. Nomu had no intention of stopping until they were all dead or worse.

That was why Eijiro had volunteered to stay behind while they went after the shockwave guy. He had convinced both girls that he would be fully capable of holding the beast off until they could return. His confidence in that statement dwindled every time the monster chipped away at him.

Kirishima currently resided on a higher floor than the beast. He dug his fists into the stone of the building, pulling himself up higher and higher. The beast, apparently angry at the loss of its target and potential meal, began to bang on the walls of that same building. Kirishima began to feel the loosening structure under his hands before turning back towards the creature.

"You hold tight down there, I'm comin' back with a snack just for you." Then, without wasting missing a beat, Eijiro pulled his hands free of the wall. While the monster beat furiously on the structure, Eijiro fell, holding his arms in front of him in a cross-guard.

"Open wide Nomu," the young lad whispered to himself as he continued to spiral towards the beast with his elbows out and hardening slowly.

The monster seemed to hear him somehow but it mattered little. By the time it stopped assaulting the building Ejiro was directly above it. Like a cannonball, Ejiro crashed into the beast, digging his elbows into its head again. His movement didn't completely stop. Eijiro continued to push the beast through several layers of building and even into the concrete below him. The Nomu screamed and Eijiro laughed, final being successful in hurting it, if only a little. It was a short lived celebration as the pain caused it to throw its arms out, catching the boy in his unprotected and unhardened side.

With the wind knocked out of his lungs Eijiro dropped into the dirt. The beast beside him began to rise out of the crater they made, picking up Eijiro by the arm. The creature opened its mouth and Eijiro closed his eyes.

"There are worse ways to die than helping a friend."

"Don't depress me, ya dumb shit."

Eijiro snapped his eyes open to gawk at the new voice. A defined forearm was sticking towards the face of the Nome before him. "This is why you extras shouldn't fight above your weight class."

In a blinding flash of light and heat, Eijiro felt the grip on his arm disappear. He hardened his body as best he could but he couldn't stop all the damage from the incredible blast that was going off so close to him. Eijiro covered his head and waited for the aftermath of the explosion to finish.

Once he was able to open his eyes again he saw the lack of city that was in front of him. The magnitude from the blast seemed to destroy the entirety of the street, and on the other end of the blast was a smoking figure. The Nomu that had been ragdolling Kirishima was immobile in the dirt, covered in soot and burns.

Looking back at the source of the explosion, Kirishima was meet by angry glaring eyes and sharp blonde hair. "What the fuck are you staring at ginger."

As gears began to turn in his head, Kirishima found himself asking, "Is your name Katsuki Bakugou?"

The boy smirked before walking away, "Not even a pro and I'm already famous. I expect nothing less."

"You are exactly what Izuku said you would be," Eijiro blanched at the smug nature of the youth.

"What the fuck did Deku say about me!"

"Oh, you call him by his hero name."

"What do ya mean his _hero_ name?" Bakugou's ever present anger gave way yo momentary confusion.

Before Ejiro could continue their back and forth he remembered the whole reason he was fighting Nomu on his own. "Oh crap Tsuyu! Momo!" Eijiro sprinted in spite of his leg, leaving the Katsuki behind.

"Did that fucker just ignore me!?" A literally fuming Katsuki declared. "Get the fuck back here."

Eijiro ignored him, turning the corner to see the shockwave villain firing away at Tsuyu. The aforementioned frog girl was bouncing in between buildings like a rubber ball, evading each blade with a dancer's grace.

"Damn it stand still," the man said through grit teeth. "These shockwaves are a real drag to control and you are testing my patience."

While shooting out another blast he was blinded by a sticky substance covering his eyes. He pulled at it but his hands become trapped by the goop.

"I got him Tsuyu!" Momo called from her position on the lightpost.

Tsuyu nodded once before bouncing feet first into the villains gut. He landed with a gasping wheeze, hardly wiggling from his place.

"Hey Eijiro," Tsuyu waved, "Looks like you really took care of that Nomu guy, huh."

"Kinda, I had some…" Eijiro paused, "Well I wouldn't really call it help but-"

"Damn right it wasn't help!" Bakugou descended from above them using light explosions to cushion his fall. "I did your damn job, now hurry up and tell me what Deku's been saying."

"Oh, I take it this is Kaa-chan then?" Tsuyu slightly tilted her head while she spoke. "You're angrier than Izuku described you to be."

"I'm gonna kick his ass when I get to that gate!" Before he could Jumped away, Momo took him by the arm. "What do you want extra."

"My _name_ is Momo, and I'd like to know if you can take some injured students with you."

"Does it look like this is a good place for an injured person to be," Bakugou snarled while pointed at his back.

"Wel could you deliver a message to Izuku for us," Tsuyu pleaded.

"I'm not a goddamned carrier pigeon."

"Please, it'll only take a second."

Bakugou huffed, "Whatever, what do you want to say, and it better be snappy cause I'm not wasting my time with this."

"Tell him that Tsuyu and Eijiro are okay and that they're on their way with some injured students."

"Got it, his dumb girlfriend and his dumb guy friend are on their way with some broken idiots." Before anyone could correct him, Bakugou rocketed away, leaving three stunned students to their devices.

"Tsuyu?" Ejiro started, "You're blushing, I don't think I've ever seen you do that."

Tsuyu seemed to ignore Eijiro while she walked away to help some more trapped students. "We aren't dating," she muttered.

"I'll go help her," Momo then left Eijiro to lean on a pillar.

"Seriously though, that guy is like, infinitely worse than what Izuku said he'd be."

* * *

 **The villains are down, the robots are gone, and after one final message from All For One, Izuku destroys the one pointer with Bakugou**

 **Back in regular time.**

After the arrival of Bakugou, the tides of war changed. The villains began to drop like flies, and the students were able to resume their positions: injured in the middle, long range fighters around them, close combat fighters preventing anyone from getting too close.

Everyone except for Bakugou was following this pattern, as he was the lone student travelling around the whole clearing to catch and beat villains without discrimination. It was actually by his hand that the last one fell. With that victory, the students began to cheer, some actually crying tears of joy. A quiet relief washed over them all, but Izuku and a select few didn't allow themselves to relax. The barrier that prevented the pros from entering was still in place.

The only conceivable explanation was that a villain was still active inside of outside of the arena, maintaining the structure, or their ordeal simply wasn't over.

Interrupting the cheers of those in the battlefield was the familiar noise of static over the radio. The new faces of the students dropped, some horrified, some stoic, but all grave.

"Oh please, continue your cheering, you've earned it for surviving this far." The visage of the masked man beside his grey-haired accomplice took over the sky. "I'd say you have earned your final lesson."

It was then that the students began to realize that the constant shaking of the Earth… was absent. The movement of the zero pointer had stopped. "The lesson I've been trying to impart upon all you impressionable youths, is that sometimes it doesn't matter how far you've come."

The students saw the giant machine in a familiar pose, the wo club like arms raised like a gorilla about to crush an animals. "Some days, you will face insurmountable odds and you will know the greatest feeling of pride and triumph."

The zero pointer loomed over them, still raising its arms to another crest of height. "And then, that swell of pride or relief shall be extinguished by a flood of terror, much like I assume yours is now."

Izuku felt the coldest pit form in his stomach as he remembered the waste the machine had laid upon the sections of the city that had been several miles away. The gathering of students were much closer.

"Even when the day seems saved, there will always be people like me to be the proverbial 'rain' on your parade. I'm sorry to waste so much potential like this, but it is necessary to send the message."

Before the fists of the machine began to drop, Tomura spoke up, "Game Over, no redos, no refunds. It's a shame too, you just made it to the big boss."

The intermission was cut off and the zero pointer brought its fists crashing downward. Amidst the panicked screams of the students below, one roar could be heard above all others.

"Fuck that!" Katsuki Bakugou set off two massive explosions in the palms of his hands, propelling him upward, past the two fists of the droid.

At the same time, Midoriya thought to himself, 'Caution to the wind it is.' Doing his best to concentrate the power, Izuku used 100% of One For All to jump towards the machines eye. The force and air pressure of his departure floored several students to the dirt. The extreme departure left his leg to weakly flap behind him, the bones having been totally shattered.

As the two boys began to fly towards the mechs head, they both readied their attacks. Izuku's right arm began to glow green, crackling with a sort of electricity. Bakugou gripped his left wrist in his right hand, his palm glowing softly before the light grew to an intense ray.

"Don't get in my way Deku!" the blonde boy viciously sneered at the shorter boy.

"Back at you Kaa-chan!"

Before another word was uttered, the two of them launched their attacks at the zero pointers head. For a second the crowd stared at the sky. They struggled to process what exactly had just happened. One moment they saw the boys throw their fists out towards the machine and the next, the entire top half of their opponent was flying away from its torso. It couldn't have been them to do that, they were only children. Such thoughts were interrupted as the air rippled and a roaring gust of wind emanated from the area the boys fell from.

Bakugou was blown away by both the force of his own and Izuku's attack. He was quick to correct himself in mid-air with a few well placed and well timed explosions. Looking around he saw the still falling figure of his old lackey.

"SOMEBODY CATCH THAT DUMBASS!" Bakugou's cried reached a few students. They recovered from the massive pressure burst that resulted from the boy's attacks, scrambling to catch the youth. Izuku for his part squirmed around. With his eyes closed and two of his appendages flapping uselessly in the wind, it was clear that the boy was unconscious from either pain or exhaustion. Most likely both.

Right when it seemed that the young hero would become another casualty of the day, a long pink noodle wrapped around his waist to slow his descent before bringing him to a complete stop. The sensation seemed to stir the young lad from his state of unconsciousness.

Midoriya's first instinct was to scream in pain. Now that he was conscious he was painfully aware of the many dozens of bone fragments that were currently stabbing into his muscles and nerves. As the adrenaline filtered out of his blood he was also made aware of how profoundly tired he was. Yet, through the pain and exhaustion, he saw a familiar and welcoming sight.

"Hey Tsuyu, Eijiro, really glad to see you're okay." Izuku's voice was hardly a whisper, but in his current state, it was well beyond what he should have been able to manage. "Could you see if that barriers down, I'd check myself but my leg really hurts."

"It's down man, the heroes are already coming in to help with rescue," Eijiro pointed out. "One of 'em is comin' this way actually."

"I think her name is recovery girl," Tsuyu said while she gently maneuvered Izuku to sit against a steel beam. "You've talked about her right?"

"Yep," Izuku's eyes were closed, but he fought the seductive call of sleep. "She's an incredible healer, and one of the reasons U.A. is able to risk such large scale entrance exams."

"That I am dearies." A cheerful old woman wearing a doctor's coat and a pink visor stopped in front of the trio. "That was quite the impressive display of power you just put on, to bad it screwed you up so much. For a second you almost looked cool."

"All old ladies are mean to me," Izuku's head drooped slightly, but the woman gave him a steer look.

"Well I wouldn't have to be mean if being nice was enough to get the message across. It's very good that you were able to protect your fellow students, but be mindful of your limits." Recovery Girl's gaze softened a bit. "But i suppose these are all things you'll be learning once you start attending classes."

"You mean I've been-" Izuku tried to get to his feet but he immediately sat back down. His one good leg was too physically tired to support his own weight.

"Don't try to get up in the condition you're in, and no you haven't been accepted, that I know of anyway. I'm not on the board of admissions, but I've seen what you can do, it'd be pretty stupid of them not to enrol someone like you. Now, I've prattled for long enough, pucker up kiddies."

The final part of her statement froze the children solid before she gave Tsuyu, Eijiro, and Izuku each a peck on the cheek. Instantly, the trio began to feel rejuvenated, Izuku felt the bones in his arm move to stop stabbing into his muscles, solidifying to a proper skeletal structure. His fatigue as well, began to give way to a well rested feeling. Tsuyu and Eijiro too perked up. It was as if they hadn't just fought against killer robots and murderous villains for the past 4 hours.

"I'll be tending to the rest of the wounded, all of you should go home. But take my advice and go around the long way. Quite a few cameras and reporters are waiting at the main entrance." Without another word, the elderly woman hobbled away to another injured student.

Izuku, now in his right mind, surveyed the area. The sheer joy he felt in knowing that his friends were okay made him want to smile, but then the finer details began to rush at him. A stain of red on the side of that building, an unmoving hand under another. The still body of a student, and the villain that lay unconscious just a few meters away. The many paramedics dodging throughout the city, placing students on stretchers and occasionally placing white sheets over them.

Izuku felt the deaths he had witnessed replay in his mind, the pleading eyes of a boy he couldn't reach. The pitiful whimpers of a girl at the mercy of a sociopathic villain. People had died in what was supposed to be a simple test. Children had died.

"Izuku," Tsuyu took his hand in her own. "This isn't your fault. We've done what we can, and we'll think about all the things we could have done when we go to sleep tonight. Those thoughts will haunt you, torture you, but you have to remember that this isn't your fault."

Izuku didn't realize that he was staring at the horrible scene before him. He turned to Tsuyu, "I don't know how I'm gonna do that Tsuyu."

"Well," she took his shoulder and walked him away from the broken city. " _We_ can figure that out together."

"I've got an idea," Eijiro smiled at his friends. "Let's talk about this over some barbeque, my treat."

"That sounds fun," a bubbly voice called, approaching them from behind. Mina Ashido looked battle worn, but unharmed. She most likely had a run in with Recovery Girl. "Where the BBQ place at."

"I too would like to go, I don't often get to go places with friends." Momo Yaoyorozu seemed to have overheard Eijiro's words as well. "This will be an interesting experience."

"Um, I don't think my wallet is strong enough to take care of all of us," Eijiro bashfully rubbed his head.

"Then allow me to pick up the check." It appeared that just about everyone had heard their conversation as Iida too was keen to join the now group of five. "Allow me to apologize for making such rude assumptions about you this morning."

"Well alright then," Eijiro pumped his fist, "This can be like our first big outing with our future classmates."

"Are you so sure that we will all be accepted," Momo questioned.

"Are you kidding," Mina gestured to the six of them. "We were all a bunch of badasses. Of course they'll accept us."

"I'd appreciate it if we could watch our language on this outing." Iida push up his glasses as he spoke.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud." Eijiro patted him on the back as he started to lead the group away.

The six students began a lively conversation, the topic straying away from the days events. The whole time, no one noticed that neither Tsuyu or Izuku had let go of each other's hands. At least not until Izuku hit a flagpole.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

DragoonSensei: You rock as always, thanks for the support.

Spiralturtle6: I can think of many words, but gratitude express what I feel best!

The Love of Reading: I can't believe I have this many supporters.

Mathew5641: Hope you enjoy today's chapter.

Allen Vth: I wanted to establish Shigaraki and the fact that he's a growing threat early one. Bakugou is really good at making people uncomfortable.

Soulikiller10000: Much appreciation.

Guest 1: Go IzuTsu! Make it cannon!

Guest 2: Izuku and Deku are in the same testing site because I'm taking a few liberties with the

story. I like having them interact, and thanks for the feedback.

Guest 3: Thanks, I put a lot of thought into this story before I posted the first chapter and it's pretty awesome to know that you like it.

 **Oh man, Chapter 10 and 300 followers and over 200 favorites. Words do not describe my level of happiness but like most things, Supernatural has a meme for that, "Ecstacy, orgasim, chocolate cake!" Thanks for stickin it out through the rougher early chapters and I hope you enjoy today's update.**

* * *

Izuku quietly navigated through his neighborhood by street light. He'd gotten off the bus a few stops early in order to properly steel himself for what he would be coming home too. Before he went into the BBQ restaurant with his friends, new and old, he sent his mother a text explaining that he would be late. Over the course of his stay he had received many messages from Inko Midoriya, but the went unheard over the noise of the public setting.

Now, as he read the many instant messages his mother had sent, Izuku felt a pang of guilt at letting her go so long without hearing from him. It was well past nightfall, and discounting late training sessions, he'd not been out so late for so long ever. 'She sounds so worried,' Izuku thought as he flicked through the rows of text on his phone. 'And she saw everything that happened at the entrance exam on the news. This is gonna be bad.'

Izuku climbed up the stairs of their apartment, pausing at the door. As he reached to the knob a person on the side called out in a tired voice, "Izuku?" His mother's voice was horse and low, she'd obviously been crying. "Izuku, is that you?"

The young lad pushed the door open to a heart wrenching sight. His mother was in a seated position, her upper body lay flat on the coffee table. Her eyes were dark, tired, and still streaming with tears. Her disheveled appearance suggested she hadn't moved from the position for a long time. "Kaa-san…" Izuku muttered.

"My baby," she replied. She began to push herself up but her arms were shaking, too weak to support her.

Izuku closed the door behind him while he swiftly strode towards his mother. "Mom, I didn't mean to-"

"Why didn't you text back?" Izuku was taken back by her stern tone. "Why didn't you call and let me hear your voice and know that you were okay?"

"Mom, I-" Izuku tried to interject but Inko screamed at him.

"Why did you only send me a text saying 'You'll be back late' and leave me here to think about all the horrible reasons why?" Inko seemingly found the strength to stand again as she towered over Izuku with tears falling from her face. "Do you know what I saw when the news started broadcasting the attack on U.A. entrance exam? I saw dozens of students crushed under rubble and smoke. I saw wild machines and dangerous villains ripping children apart. I saw you!"

Izuku bit back the bile in his throat. "What do you mean?"

"I saw _you_ , climbing a tower to scream a message while a madman and his friend sent deadly machines at students. I saw _you_ fighting against murderers and villains. I saw _you_ break your leg and your arm fighting a giant war machine. And now here you are, strolling in like nothing happened." Inko fell back into the couch before looking at her boy, "Did you even plan to tell me how hurt you were, or did you intend to lie and pretend you didn't almost get killed."

Izuku looked away, unable to meet his mothers eyes with the weight of the guilt pressing down on him.

"You're not going Izuku." Inko's tears no longer fell, she steeled her eyes and walked toward her son. "Look at me Izuku. You're not going to U.A. even if you're accepted. Were going to apply for a new school in the morning, one without a hero program."

"Mom!" he cried while he reached out to her.

"NO," Izuku flinched at her shout, "This is not a discussion."

Izuku weakly tried to argue back but his mother silenced him with a finger. For a moment Izuku searched her eyes. He looked for anything he could use but under her fresh tears was a fire. Izuku's mother had said the final word on the matter, and it was not to be reopened. She strode away to her room, and Izuku was left to stand there in the dark. Alone with his thoughts Izuku could only think of one thing.

'What do I do.' Izuku pulled at his hair, his breathing becoming ragged. 'She's not wrong, but I can't want to give up. All Might gave me this power so that I could save the world, I can't just give up because Mom's afraid for me.'

Izuku pulled his hands away from his head and stared at the door to his mother's room. He took a few steps toward the door, reaching out to the knob. His hand hovered there, and try as he might, is what like an invisible force stopped him from touching it.

'So why is it so hard?' Izuku blinked away the tears in his eyes while he shakily dropped his arm. 'Why can't I just go inside and tell her that I won't give up?'

Midoriya trugged backwards, weakly flopping to the coach. He knew exactly why he couldn't bring himself to open the door. It was because he could bring himself to fight against his mother's tears. Not today, after everything that he'd already been through.

He closed his eyes and fell into a cold half-sleep, not bothering to change out of his sweaty T-shirt and shorts. One half of his mind tugged at him to get back up, but the was other too tired to fight against the weight of his reality.

* * *

Inside a familiar gym, behind closed blinds and a locked door sat four individuals. Two gentlemen, one a sloppy but together man with messy black hair and baggy eyes, the other a brown haired young man in his early twenties. Across from the younger man was a grey-haired woman, oldest person in the room, but she held the air of a fighter in her prime. The last person sat in the middle of the group, she had bright silver hair, but she was as young as the the boy. Her eyes were different from her though. It was as if those two gems were completely separate from the rest of her.

Her eyes were older, wiser, than what they should have were at the lighter moments of her day, kind and warm. Some days they could be fragile, like they hadn't quite escaped her hellish nightmare of a world. But today, they were angry and confused, as was everyone in the room.

Yujiro was the first to speak up, "I thought you were going to warn us about these sort of things." Zencho wouldn't meet his eyes. "What? Do you think it doesn't matter?" Yujiro stood up, "That it's okay for a few kids to die as long as the ones you need stay safe? Cause if that's the case were going to have a couple problems!"

Zencho turned to glare at him before she yelled back at him, "You can go ahead a shove it Hanma, I didn't warn you because I didn't know!" The young woman gripped her head while she sighed, "This didn't happen in my time, nothing like his ever came close to happening. A least not before the government collapsed."

"Well that's something to look forward to." All eyes turned to Kylie, who quickly placed her hands up. "Hey, hey, calm down. I was talking about the government collapsing, no more having to hide my identity and all that."

"If we could get back on topic," Aizawa spoke through clenched teeth, "You say that nothing like this happened in your timeline?"

"Not at this point in time," Zencho confirmed.

"Then something changed," Aizawa said as a matter of fact. "The way you've described it, you moved back in time without crossing over to a different universe. The events that happen in yours should happen in ours as long as a new factor isn't introduced into the equation."

Zencho sighed, "It's me." She furrowed her brow in deep concentration. "To my knowledge, there was no time-traveller in my timeline until I travelled backwards. Once I got hear, every step I took had the possibility of drastically changing the timeline. That's why I came straight to Kylie. She already knew who I was and she could help me hide, avoid making any major changes."

Yujiro spoke up, "So are you saying that everything you know won't matter because it's already destined to be different."

"I'm saying that there will be changes that I can't account for. Certain events will play out like before and others won't, so the best we can do is prepare for what will happen and be on guard for what might."

"I'm going to be busy handling the… aftermath of the exam." Aizawa spoke with the expression one might have after eating an old lemon. "I'd like to know about some of these events now, in case I would be able to come see you all as often as I do now."

Kylie looked at Zencho, "Is it safe to talk about this now. The timeline is already going to be different then it was before."

The silver haired young woman nodded. "This level of difference is already beyond what I estimated, there's no harm in saying more." She then turned to Aizawa. "My memories of the entrance exam are fuzzy, at the time it occured in my timeline I wasn't in the position to hear much about them. But the way my brother described it, they weren't nearly as bad as this, I don't think there were any casualties. The villains didn't attack until the students of this year's class 1-A were doing a training simulation."

"And what happened then?" Yujiro was seemed anxious.

"Again, there were no casualties, but there was a monster there, it was some weird creature called a Nomu, it possessed multiple quirks and no higher intelligence."

"I think one of those was there today." Now it was Zencho's turned to question Aizawa.

"Are you sure?" He nodded but Zencho was not so easily convinced. "Nomu's are dangerous creatures, they're normally huge, as big as some cars, and their head is totally exposed-"

"Leaving just a brain without a skull?" Zencho nodded and Aizawa grimaced. "It was a Nomu. What else do you know about them?"

"There are hundreds of them where I come from, each one has a different set of skills. It can take a whole team of heroes just to take one down because a lot of times their quirks are just cancelled out."

"Anything else?" Kylie, as well as Yujiro and Aizawa, were beginning to see the danger in these creatures.

"The basic attributes of most Nomu's were super strength and durability. They have no minds, and they don't feel pain unless it's a deep wound, down to the bone deep. No matter what, don't approach a group of them, they can have as many as fifteen quirks between them and that almost always means that they have a quirk that you can't handle."

The room fell silent before Yujiro asked, "How many of these things did you say there were."

"Hundreds."

""There was only one at the exam, and it took three students to hold it off while a fourth one killed it by explosion. Before that…" Aizawa looked sick, "It ate and killed several wounded students."

Kylie and Yujiro's eyes widened, but Zencho looked more calculating. "That probably wasn't a mistake. It was probably collected DNA samples. Stockpiling quirks to be used in other Nomu. The one they killed was among the prototypes, a first generation creation."

"Creation?" Kylie questioned.

"Nomus are man-made monsters. One body is used as a host while three or four quirks are forced into it. The mutation of the DNA turns them into hulking monsters, only if they're a successful model."

"Who makes them?" Aizawa needed to know. "If we can preemptively strike the maker then we can eliminate a future problem."

"All For One."

"Wow," Yujiro said. "Look at all the nothing we can do now."

"Listen, that's all I know about the Nomu, we need to get back to the future catastrophes that we can stop."

"Such as," Yujiro prompted.

"A few weeks after the U.A sports festival of this year, there's going to be a massive attack on the city. Nomu's everywhere. Gen-2 and a few more prototypes. These one's are weaker but they're no less dangerous. The villains are going to organize an attack on the city, their purpose will be to cause as much chaos as possible."

"Then we'll stop them." Aizawa crossed his arms. "Capture as many as we can and hope that some of them will be high enough on the ladder to provide some useful information."

"That's enough for now." Kylie stood up and walked away, still addressing everyone in the room. "It's late, and today's been stressful, we can discuss some more later, but right now I'm heading out."

"Be careful Kylie," Yujiro called.

"No shit kiddo," she replied."

With that heartwarming goodbye, Kylie grabbed her coat and strode out of the door. Aizawa likewise gave both young adults a sober nod before he too left.

Once they were alone Yujiro got up to leave, yet he stopped himself. Taking a deep breathe he turned to Zencho, "Sorry about what I said earlier. I was out of line accusing you of being heartless like that."

Zencho nodded to him, "It's fine, you had every right to react the way you did." She chuckled, "You are a lot like Kylie that way."

"Angry?"

"Passionate," she softly replied. She spoke with a natural a natural melody that Yujiro couldn't help but be immersed in.

"Well, thanks." He replied back, hiding his blush in the darkness of the gym. "You're pretty nice when you're actually talking."

"Maybe we should talk more often," she offered. "Let's get coffee sometime, as long as you don't mind me wearing a hood and shades."

"Ouch," he mocked a hurt expression. "Embarrassed to be seen with me?"

"Obviously," she joked. "Can't you tell how it would look for someone like me to be seen with you."

"You wound me," Yujiro hummed, placing his hand on his heart.

The two's banter was interrupted by a tapping on the window. They both turned and saw Kylie standing in front of the door.

"I just came back for my keys, but thanks for that. Really, you two are just adorable."

The two were now blushing madly, and a smirking Kylie was finally smiling after her long day.

"Alright, I'm leaving for real this time, you can go back to flirting."

"Kylie," Yujiro groaned.

The aforementioned woman vacated the building, locking the door behind her.

Zencho quickly stood up. "I'm going to bed," she said.

"Me too," Yujiro replied.

"Don't fuck in my gym," Kylie called from outside, turning the soft blushes of the young adults to cherry red paintings.

"Kylie!" Yujiro yelled. "Go! On! Your! Walk!"

* * *

"I'm not giving up on my dream!"

The declaration surprised Inko Midoriya. Standing in her doorway was her only child, a determined look in her eye and in his stance, something else. However, that alone wasn't going to change her mind.

"Izuku," she spoke back, "I told you this wasn't a discussion."

"It is now." He stood firm, refusing to crumble under her gaze with all its intensity.

Inko raised from her seated position, standing across from her son. "Isn't it enough that you had to see so many people die already. Don't you see how dangerous the life of a hero is now?"

Izuku had never dared to raise his voice at his mother, their relationship had never been such that it was necessary. But tonight, there was no other way she would hear him. "I know it's going to be dangerous, I always knew. But someone has to do it, I _want_ to do it."

"Why!" Inko's voice cracked. "Why does it have to be you! Why can't you let someone else do it? Why does it have to be my baby?"

Inko felt herself fall, but before she could reach the ground her son wrapped his arms around her, catching her in a hug. "Because I can now, mom. Because I'm strong enough now." Izuku smiled to himself, "I saved people today. I was hurt, I was in danger, I could have died, but I saved someone. That's all I want to do, all I've ever wanted to do."

Inko didn't say anything in response. The sat there is a tense silence for a short while, before she reached up to hold her sons arms in her own. The gently rubbed his hands, now in a seated position in between Izuku's arms.

"You so big now," she finally said. "You're not like you were before. You used to come to me for every little thing, every nick and scrape was something you would let me take care off."

"Mom," Izuku blushed, "I can't do that forever."

"I know, even when we thought you were quirkless I knew. You'd have to go out into the world and start living your own life. I just thought I'd have more time to keep you safe." She clutched her sons arm into her chest, "I certainly never thought that you'd be fighting for your life so soon."

"I wasn't by myself you know," Izuku pointed out. "I had friends by my side. They kept me… We kept each other safe. The girl I told you about, Tsuyu. She was there, so were Eijiro and Kaa-chan."

"Are they all…" Inko trailed off, there was no need to finish the question given the events of the day.

"They're all fine, we even went out and got barbeque today," he proclaimed before nervously clearing his throat. "That's kinda why I was late."

"I see." Inko breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry Izuku."

"Don't be sorry for being worried mom," Izuku hugged his mother tighter. "I know you can't help it."

"I'm not apologizing for worrying Izuku." Inko made no attempt to hide the tears streaming down her eyes, nor did she try to sound stronger or more controlled than she really was. "I'm sorry for always holding you back."

Izuku looked lost, like he'd missed a beat in the conversation. "Mom?"

"I should have told you yes," Inko Midoriya turned and engulf her son in a hug, "The day you asked if you could still become a hero I should have said yes!"

"It's okay," Izuku voice lacked the life he'd previously exuded. "I'm fine now."

"It's not okay Izuku," Inko Midoriya's words were clear as day despite her inability to compose herself. "A mother should never take away her child's hope the way I did. And I'm so, _so_ sorry for letting you hurt for so long."

Izuku couldn't hold back his own bleeding heart. He collapsed into his mother's arms while he succumbed to his own emotions.

Both mother and son freely sobbed, no strong facades or solemn faces. Just a moment of raw feeling, as honest as one could be. Even after the dears died, the Midoriya family sat on the floor of the bedroom, still holding on to each other.

The moment was interrupted by a ring from the boy's pocket.

Izuku deftly slipped his arm from around his mother and into his side pocket. The screen showed a new message from Tsuyu.

'I want you to meet me in the park, deeper in is a small pond. Find me there if you decide to come.'

After reading the message, Izuku put his phone away before lightly saying, "Mom, I'm going to a friend's."

For a split second, Izuku saw the fear in his mother's eyes. Quickly he assures her, "I'm just going to talk with them. I promise not to almost die," he poorly jokes. "Oh die for real," he quickly adds.

She's silent for a moment, thinking to herself. Eventually she picks herself up and says to him, "Come back safe." Inko lightly pats him on the cheek before crawling into bed.

Izuku leaves the room, going straight for the door. He was dressed in a long sleeved grey shirt, and black pants. It was warm enough for a midsummer night, and he had everything he needed. No reason to pack a bag. Locking the door behind him, Izuku began to run, sending back a text to Tsuyu.

'I'll be there in 10.'

* * *

Looking around, Izuku was fairly impressed by the beauty of the little ecosystem he stood in. In front of him was a small pond, perhaps waist deep, and around it was a virtual veil of vines on the other side. Circling the otherwise flat area were tall trees with bushy leaves. The small clearing was light by a nice glowing moonlight, allowing Izuku to make out all the little movements caused by the breeze and the bugs.

Izuku stopped his running, walking a slower pace through the forest while he appreciated the silence of nature. The gentle melody of the rustling grass and chirping crickets helped take his mind away from the woes of his day. He'd witnessed death and destruction. He'd been forced to hear the anguished cries of children trapped by fallen structures. He'd held the hand of a boy as he died, watched the light leave his eyes while a monster in a mask set monsters loose on his friends.

Izuku stopped cold as he reflected on the brief time when he believed that the zero-pointer had killed his friends. At that moment, he remembered the flash of rage that consumed him, and then there was a darkness. In the moment when he thought he'd lost his friends, Izuku no longer cared for is own life. Izuku was made a slave to his despair, but only because the loss of Tsuyu and Eijiro had been so daunting to him.

"I'd didn't think they meant so much to me," he thought aloud.

"Who do you mean?" Izuku didn't bother jumping. Tsuyu always seemed to be right where he needed her, but could she not announce her arrival just once. Was it so much to ask?

"I was thinking out loud," Izuku responded, tilting his head to see Tsuyu sitting on a branch. "Nothing special. What is this place?"

"Well if it's nothing special," Tsuyu dropped to the ground, "You won't mind telling me about it. And to answer your question, this is my place. Not that I own it or anything, it's just where I go to clear my head, sometimes lie down and stick my feet in the water. Now back to you."

Izuku paused, looking up, down, anywhere but her eyes. "It was just something I thought about during the test. I guess it was bugging me but honestly, I'm already forgetting about it."

Tsuyu ambled towards Izuku, planting herself in front of him. For a moment she held him in place with her eyes, Izuku had no choice but to look back. It was a moment to the world but an eternity to him. Finally, she broke the eye contact, before smiling. She sat down on the roots of a tree before speaking.

"You're a terrible liar Izuku." Her mirthful tone somehow stung him. "I don't think you could've fooled anyone with the way your eyes are. They just start scrambling to look at anything else."

Izuku looked as if he wanted to argue, but after briefly mulling it over in his mind, he dropped his arms and took a seat next to his friend.

"Are you mad that I tried to lie?" he asked without looking at her. It was like he was speaking to the thicket of brush in front of him.

"No," she said plainly. "I get that there are things you like to keep to yourself, like that person you started training under. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help. That's just something friends do." Tsuyu also spoke with looking at him, the two prefering to use the bush as a medium of sorts.

"I get that, but it just isn't instinctual for me." Izuku rubbed his shoulder, the day Kaa-chan burned him had left a noticeable scar, nothing grotesque. Just a discoloration. A reminder. "Normally when I have a problem, I figure out a way to solve it. I never really went to others with my baggage."

"Well, could you stop?" Tsuyu placed a hand on his back, "You have friends now. People that care about whether you're having a bad day. People you don't have to hide your problems from."

Izuku's curled into himself. "If that's true, why don't you tell me about yours."

Tsuyu picked up a blade of grass, turning it in her hand. "Well, last night I had trouble sleeping. I was really nervous about the entrance exams. Was it something my quirk wasn't suited for? What if the paper test was too advanced for me? Would the people I'd be testing with have super-powerful quirks?" She paused, letting the grass blow away in the breeze. "Would Izuku be there? Would Eijiro?"

Izuku felt his chest jump, "Tsuyu?"

"What if they got in and I didn't? What if it's the other way around?" Izuku heard a rare bout of fear in her voice. "Would we stop seeing each, would I lose my new friends? What about my oldest one, Habuko? What might happen if I mess up? Am I going to go back to being alone again?"

Izuku looked darted his eyes to her, and for a moment he saw a weakness in her. He'd never seen her so vulnerable. "I never thought those kinds of things crossed your mind. You always seem so sure of yourself, so collected." Izuku sighed, "I never thought of you as someone that was scared."

"Of course I am Izuku." Tsuyu returned to her usual tone, but it wasn't the same. It was softer in a way. "I spent so much time alone and thinking that I'd never know what it's like to have real friends. Then I started to meet amazing people like Habuko, and Eijiro. You."

Izuku almost scoffed. "What's so amazing about me. Up until a few months ago I didn't even know I had a quirk."

"No one's special because of the quirk they have, it's about who they are." Tsuyu completely turned to Izuku, "The first time I saw you, I wanted to cry Izuku."

"Hey," Izuku laughed, "I wasn't that beat up."

"That wasn't the first day I saw you." Izuku looked at her inquisitively, and she continued. "A couple of months ago they changed my bus route, I started to pass the park to get to the bus stop. And everyday, I saw you pass through. Sometimes you were okay, but a lot of times you weren't. You'd be covered in all sorts of bruises and cuts and burns. I was so afraid for you but I never did anything because you always had that look in your eye."

Tsuyu stood up and pulled Izuku up with her, "What look in my eye?"

Tsuyu pondered on the question for a moment. Her finger to her lip in her iconic thinking pose. "There's no way to put it. It wasn't just determination, or grit, or perseverance. Seeing it was like seeing a new color." Tsuyu laughed, "Sometimes it was like I could hear your eyes saying 'We aren't done yet.' That's why you're so incredible to me, because you always had that unbreakable will. Up until the day you didn't."

Tsuyu took Izuku by the shoulders before looking into his eyes. "That one day I looked at were you always passed, but you didn't show up. I decided to wait, I missed my bus and it started getting late, I almost thought of calling the police. But then you finally showed up. You were all banged up and I saw an awful burn in your shoulders, it was the worst I'd seen you as. But the most horrible part was that your eyes didn't have that spark anymore. You dropped onto a park bench, and it tore me apart to see that. The boy I'd seen protect his heart for so long looked so ready to just give up." Tsuyu let go of Izuku, and slowly walked away from him.

"That was the first day you talked to me," Midoriya slowly whispered.

"I wish I had said something sooner, reached out sooner. But I was worried that you'd think I was some weird girl. I let that fear stop me from helping you."

"No you didn't!" Izuku's outburst disturbed some of the smaller wildlife around them, and for a second even the birds were silent. "You still came to help me, and if you hadn't… I don't know what my life would be like today if I'd never gotten to talk to you, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is now."

Izuku took a long step forward, engulfing his friend in his arms, "You're one of the most amazing people I know, and I want to properly say thank you for everything you've done."

Izuku held her for a long moment, the silence broken by the occasional owl's hoot. His worst fear was that she would push him away, but he was surprised to feel her shivered, and for a sudden wetness to touch his chest.

"How?" She asked through a weak sob, "How aren't you mad at me for letting you be alone for so long?"

Izuku raised his head, "How could I be mad with you after you've been so kind to me? You gave me my hope back, introduced me to new friends. You're the reason I still want to be a hero."

Tsuyu lifted her arms, returning the hug. It meant the world to the both of them, to have someone so close, and to be able to be vulnerable with that person.

"You're my best friend Tsuyu," Izuku whispered.

"Back at you."

They broke the hug, and went back to their seated positions at the base of the tree, now a bit closer to each other.

"I've been crying a _lot_ today Tsuyu," Izuku blurted out.

"I can tell," she said plainly.

"I'm doing my best not to be insulted by that," Izuku said under his breath. "First my mom, and now here."

"Is your mom okay?" she asked, sounding concerned.

"She's fine." Izuku took a deep breath, "We were just having a really important talked before you texted.

"Does she cry as much as you?"

Izuku snapped to a standing position. "I don't cry that much!"

"Are you sure," she looked Izuku dead in the eye. "Because I can make a couple phone calls that prove otherwise. Do you think Habuko is up this late?"

Izuku let that thought sit in his mind for a while before sitting down, "Let's have that conversation some other day."

"That's what I thought you'd say," Tsuyu giggled at Izuku's growing rain cloud.

"Girls are mean to me," he mumbled, eliciting another fit of giggles from his friend.

Another brief silence fell over the two. A comfortable one, wich Izuku was happy to let sit for a while. During that time he thought about how he'd first met Tsuyu. He'd be the first to admit that he was more than first to become infatuated with her, and even now he'd hope that someday they could be something more than friends. But right now, in moments like these, he was happy even if that never happened. As long as he had her in his life, Izuku could be satisfied.

"I was thinking about you," Izuku said.

"What?" Tsuyu blushed, not that Izuku could see it under the pale moonlight.

"When you asked what I was saying, I tried to lie, but I was thinking of you and Eijiro."

"Oh," she nodded to herself, "You said that you didn't realize how much we meant to you. What did you mean?"

Izuku looked at the ground intensely, "When the zero pointer broke that big section of the city, I knew that you both were in it. For a second, I thought you were dead. I realized how much you both meant to me because… it felt like I was dying. It was too hot to breathe, the I felt too heavy to stand, it was all too much."

Tsuyu twisted two long stalks of flowers together. "Why wouldn't you want to tell me that."

Now it was Izuku's turn to blush, "Because I thought that you might think I was some overly attached weirdo."

"That's dumb," she plainly said, the words cleanly slapping Izuku, "We were worried about you too, I don't think it's weird at all."

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief before lightly glaring at Tsuyu, "That first part was just to make me jump wasn't it?"

Tsuyu smiled before turning away. "Maybe," she sang.

Izuku, who had been putting on a stern face, burst into laughter. He didn't understand why, but all of a sudden he just felt so filled with joy. He threw his head back and bellowed like he'd just been told a good joke. Tsuyu then joined him, not quite as wild in her actions, but no less gleeful. All the forest around them echo their delight. Even the previously silent crickets began to chirp in unison.

It was a good few minutes later that laughter finally died down. Izuku's face took a more somber appearance as he went back to leaning into the tree.

"Hey Tsuyu?"

"Yeah?"

"After the barrier went down," Izuku began to twiddle with his thumbs, "You said that if we had trouble with what we'd seen, we could talk to each other."

"And I meant it," Tsuyu took notice of the new direction the conversation was going, and adopted a more serious appearance herself.

"I think I need to talk about some of the things I saw." Izuku felt a warm palm on his back, rubbing gentle circles between his shoulder blades.

"Go ahead," she offered. "I've got all night."

* * *

 **That's the end of chapter 10, a little development in the IzuTsu relationship, a little involvement in the Momma Midoriya department, and a little more about our favorite gym members. I hope you enjoyed and be on the lookout for the first chapter of a new story.**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Chapter 11

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

Spiralturtle6: I did get the PM, because I can't get the notifications on. Thanks for the responses and don't ever think I'm gonna get peeved. I'm doing this for all of you and to become a better writer. Feedback is really important to me.

Deathwing676 and ajarrigo27: Well you see the thing is...Nope nope nope nope, I totally forgot. I thought it was that you needed to have the necessary nutrients, I completely forgot the part about stamina. Thanks though.

23: Appreciated.

DragoonSensei: I did my best, I want them to be good friends before anything else.

Mathew5641: The only other OCs I see myself using are gonna be in the villain role, nothing in the classroom, but some roles are going to be switched around.

Scarease: PM me about them, I'd love to hear what you've got to say.

PilloTheStarplestian: Thanks, I was trying to round out the story.

DevilKingCrimson: I'm going for a well rounded story.

* * *

 _ **6:00 AM, Kylie's Gym**_

Early in the morning, few people resided in the gym. It was a given that as soon as the sun came up, Yujiro and Kylie were down from the attic were they slept to start setting up equipment and stations. They wouldn't be put to use until much later, but today was a special case. It had been several weeks since the widely publicized attack on the U.A. entrance exam, but Izuku still had trouble sleeping. It was true that his talks with Tsuyu had taken much of the load off of his chest, but no words could take away what they had all seen. That is why Izuku is here so early, rhythmically tapping the weight bag, letting the beat of his assault take his mind off of his woes.

Quietly approaching him was Kylie. She observed his form and admitted to herself, he was doing just fine. Of course there were things he could be doing better but she could see something else was wrong. He was _too_ focused on the bag. She saw his flick his fists out with a mechanical precision, but only after he hesitated. After he shivered. Kylie leaned against the ropes of the ring, letting her tired eyes droop.

'It's been a while since the attack,' she thought to herself as she watched beads of sweat roll of the boy, all the while showing no signs of slowing. 'But he still feels off. Not that you can expect a child to come back from something as awful as that and be unchanged.' Izuku began a more furious pace, sending the bag flying with each strike.

Kylie grimaced at the way his wrist cracked against the bag, and at how he ignored it. 'It's dangerous to let him go on like this, maybe Yujiro could say something to him. They're pretty close nowadays.'

Izuku, still ignorant to Kylie's presence, began to pick up the pace even further. It an accidental burst of power, Izuku's body tensed. A green arc of lightning danced around his arm as he shoved his fist cleanly through the bag. Sand began to pour out and Izuku was brought out of his trance-like state.

"Kylie's going to kill me," he groaned.

"Not this early in the morning, Shaggy." Izuku's neck made an audible snap when he turned. "But you are gonna clean that up."

Izuku nodded while he tracked away to get a new bag to hang up, as well as a broom and dust pan. "So was that your quirk?"

Izuku jumped, before swallowing his fear and responding, "Yeah, I'm still getting used to it."

Kylie nodded while she thought to herself, 'It's been a while since I've seen someone use One For All so close.'

Izuku quickly added, "Sorry about breaking the bag," while he leaned the broom on the wall to unhook the busted equipment. "I wasn't really trying to use my quirk."

Kylie laughed, "Oh, don't worry." She then smiled sinisterly at him, "If I thought you were breaking my things on purpose you'd already be in the ring."

Izuku hung up the new weight. "It won't happen again," he chirped in that nervous way of his.

"Well Izuku, I want to believe you," she then stood up and cracked her knuckles, "But I really do think I'll have to take a more active role in curbing this habit."

Izuku didn't dare to struggle when Kylie picked him up by the collar, "But I haven't finished cleaning."

"You can do that later," she rolled her eyes, "Hey Yujiro!"

"Yeah?" the aforementioned lad called back from his place by the weights.

"Finish setting up the machines by the ice maker," she then snickered to herself, "Izuku and I are doing a new program."

"Yujiro," Izuku called from his tucked position in between Kylie's arm and side. "I think she's gonna hurt me."

"Probably," he shrugged, "But she always does that. What's the big deal?"

Kylie hummed to herself as she opened the door to the track,"I was thinking the exact same thing." Kylie then popped Izuku into the air. Before he knew it she was hurling him into the air towards the center of the field.

After the brief flight, Izuku tumbled to a stop. Slowly sitting up to dust himself off, Izuku spat the grass out of his mouth. "I could have walked," he pointed out.

"Well I could have punted you instead of throwing," she argued.

Izuku raised his finger before breathing deeply and lying back down in the grass. "What are we doing out here?"

"We're gonna fight dummy." Kylie spoke so calmly and casualty that Izuku had actually brushed off what she said. At least until she cracked her knuckles.

"Pardon?"

"Get up." Kylie pulled Izuku up by his arm. She brushed off his back and put up her guard.

Izuku mimicked her actions before smirking, "You really did just bring me outside to hurt me."

Kylie smiled at him innocently. It almost made her look motherly, but the image was ruined by her rushing forward with an elbow strike aimed at his neck. Izuku had seen it enough times to know that he couldn't dodge it, so he instead braced his arms. Leaning back, he jumped as she made impact with him, lessening the force of the blow, but not totally escaping the damage dealt. Kylie allowed no respite, following him with a rush of sharp strikes and heavy swings. Izuku slipped into a solid guard and took the brunt of the damage into his forearms.

Izuku began to slow his breathing. He ignored the pain in his arms and instead began to fall into a rhythm. It was a painful process, but one that he'd learned from Yujiro.

' _Remember Izuku_ ,' the brunette's voice echoed in his mind. ' _Everyone has a beat to their melody. Maybe they don't mean to, but it's there. All you have to do is feel them out, understand their timing. Once you've got it, attack in between their pattern, take them off balance_.'

Izuku began to move in sync with Kylie. The staggering strikes she was punishing him with became glancing blows as he fell back to lessen the blows. Then those too became even less. Izuku became a blur of green that was flying in and out of Kylie's fists.

Kylie smiled in earnest as she saw him catch her flow. "Look at you Izuku," she chimed, not stopping her assault. "If you keep at it I might have to take things seriously."

Izuku, feeling just a bit more confident, chidded back, "You better, cause I don't think you can take the easy route out of this!"

The battle took a sharp turn. Izuku had feinted a block for another dodge, but coming straight out of it was a jab. It wasn't meant to do much damage, if any, but it did catch Kylie off guard. At once Izuku to at advantage to begin his own flurry of strikes. Kylie would narrowly dodge each strike, all the while she had to take steps backward to get out of his reach.

Izuku smiled at finally having the upper hand in one of these fights. He was feeling a rush of endorphins dull his fatigue and, unfortunately, his peripheral vision. Kylie hid zipped to the left of his strike, completely leaving his line of sight.

It was only a momentary confusion but it was enough for Kylie to send a crushing right hook to his temple. Izuku flew into the ground head first, the impact left his seeing stars.

Kylie put her hands on her hips while she cheekily wagged he finger at him. "I'd tell you that you were close, but honestly, we weren't even playing in the same league."

Izuku spoke over his now throbbing head, "I had you on the ropes for a second."

Kylie howled with laughter, "Funnier every time you say that." She leaned over to offer him a hand, which he gratefully accepted. "Still, maybe one day that won't be a joke."

"Thanks?" Izuku said somewhat unsurely. "At least I think that was a compliment."

As he began to walk away, Kylie took him by the shoulder. "Where do you think you're going curly?"

"To go finish my circuit." Izuku felt it should have been clear. "That's what you always tell me to do."

"Yeah," she nodded, "When we're finished." Kylie then gave him a hearty patt on the back while she said, "I gotta say kiddo, you've got a lot more meat on your bones than when you first showed up in my door."

Izuku lightly rubbed his arm behind his back, "Yeah well, you _are_ a pretty good teacher when you want to be."

"I can't take credit for this Izuku," she gestured to his arm, which had a lot more defined muscle than the months prior. "All that hard work was your doing. And if I'm remembering right, you have another teacher."

Izuku glanced back to the gym where Yujiro was helping with another member that had come in while they were outside.

"Yujiro's been great too."

"Of course he has, I'm the one who trained him." Kylie proudly beat on her chest, "And he's the one who's gonna inherit the gym after I retired too. But he's not the other teacher I was talking about.

Izuku's eyes widened, "Right, I guess that slipped my mind." The truth was that All Might had been so busy handling the aftermath of the villain attack that the two had barely seen each other, much less done training. That of course wasn't to say that Izuku had been slacking off.

"Do you train your quirk over there too?" Kylie smiled when the boy jumped.

Izuku wiped a nervous sweat off of his forehead. "W-What do you mean Kylie."

"Do you train your quirk with your other trainer, since we haven't done that here?"

Oblivious to the amusement he was providing Kylie, Izuku did his best to improvise an answer, "Oh you know, we touched up on it here and there."

"Well that's no good," Kylie hummed, ceasing her torment of Izuku. "We'll just have to do a bit of training here then, aren't we? Make sure you don't any more bags."

'Oh thank god,' Izuku internally sighed in relief, 'No more questions.'

"Izuku, fire up your quirk, we're gonna fight some more."

'...I think I want to go back to the questions.'

"Um Kylie," Izuku prodded his fingers together, an old nervous tick. "My quirk is actually kind of dangerous, so I don't think we should."

"Oh don't worry Izuku," she kindly rubbed his back. "I'll make sure you don't get hurt."

Izuku huffed, "I'm actually worried that I might hurt you."

Kylie froze like a statue, dead panning at her pupil's words. She removed her hand from his back and slowly waddled away. Every step she took was somehow stiffer than the last, and Izuku began to wonder if something was wrong. In that instant, the older woman violently seized onto the ground. Izuku sprinted over to her location. He turned her over, expecting to see a pained expression. Instead, she was...holding her breath? She was clutching her sides too. If Izuku didn't know any better...

Izuku dead-panned. With her still shaking on the ground, Izuku sucked in his cheeks and stiffly walked away.

"I can't believe I thought you were hurt," he robotically droned.

Kylie could no longer hold back. Her booming laughter could have shaken the widows out of their frames. The few occupants of the gym actually stopped their activities to see the source of commotion. At their distance, it was very easy to make out the young by refusing to look at the hysterically cackling owner of the gym.

"Come on Izuku! That was amazing!" Kylie clutched both sides of her stomach.

"I get it," he stiffly replied.

"But do you?! You were so serious when you said it!"

"Now you're just being rude."

"Oh my god! Twice in one day, you could be a comedian!" There were small tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Can we please just go back to sparing?" Izuku pleaded, willing to do anything that didn't involve her finding his capabilities so mock able.

"Yes, yes we can." Kylie weakly stood up, still in a fit of light giggles. "But afterwards, I need you to record yourself saying that. In the exact same way too, for days when I really need a laugh."

"I'm not as against this as I used to be," Izuku stormed to a few feet away before turning back.

The two of them moved to the center of the field once more, a good 10 or 12 meters between them. Kylie dropped into a lower stance, legs spread further than her shoulder width. Her arms were close together, her left a bit further out.

Izuku's arms were squarely in front of him, head tucked behind them. He was in a classic peekaboo stance. Kylie waited for him to take control of his breathing before she spoke up.

"The match starts when you turn on your quirk, and it ends when you leave the boundary of the track."

"What if you leave the boundary?" Izuku asked.

"Don't make me laugh again Izuku," she smiled at his ticked vein.

"Fine then," he called back. In a hushed whisper, Izuku commanded to himself, "Full Cowl."

Kylie saw a arc of green lightning fly off the boy. It cracked it the air and cast a large shadow over the area. Then another. And another, and another, and more after that, each one smaller and arcing away less until they came to hover just over his body.

The was a miniscule change in Izuku's footing, all the warning Kylie needed. The ground beneath Izuku shook with his take off. He flew towards Kylie at frightening speeds, covering the 10 meters in less than a fraction of a second. He darted his fist forward fully intending to stop just short of hitting Kylie, and prove to her how dangerous it was to train like this. He was the one proven wrong, however, as Kylie dropped down, only leaving her elbow up.

At his speed Izuku couldn't maneuver. The youth came to a sudden and painful stop, virtually impaling his stomach on his mentor's elbow. Izuku dropped to the ground, struggling to breathe, with Full Cowl fading from his body.

"You're right Izuku." Kylie spoke without a shred of her previous humor, only a calculating analysis. "Your quirk is pretty dangerous, but it's a double edged sword. It's not enough to be strong, you need to be smart."

Izuku spoke in between his ragged and thin breaths, "I don't...understand."

Kylie kneeled to his level and spoke in a flat tone, "After I lowered myself, I didn't move. All the force of that impact came from you." Kylie then pointed at the ground he kicked off from.

Izuku followed her finger to see that his take off had shattered the Earth. A crater roughly the size of his foot was there as testament.

"You can't take off at that speed, with that energy, and not have a plan for if you miss. Next time, come at me with a new angle, don't put as much energy into the take off or you'll have to use that much more to change direction."

The boy stood up. Even after catching his breath, the world was spinning around him. His head seemed to float away from his body, and his eyes strained to focus the image in front of him. Kylie was already in another stance.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

Izuku felt a need to be sick all over the grass, but his simply entered another peekaboo stance. "Always."

And as teacher and student fought in the light of the rising sun, one person watched on. Yujiro silently appraised the battle, and found his eyes drawn to the look in Izuku's eyes. The determination, the defiance, the fire. It was just as it had been on the first day Izuku had come. Sure, he was a scrawny little guy, and damned if he didn't look ready to cry at the slightest thing. But it he never got that feeling. When Izuku left the gym, it was never a question of if he would come back. Hell, most people only came for a month, sometimes a few. Always the same story, get in shape, and get out. Izuku, he'd been here for almost a year.

'That feels like a lifetime ago.' Yujiro brushed a hand through his hair while he watch Izuku get back up from a sharp jab. 'But it feels like you're still the same guy, Izuku.'

* * *

 _ **11:00 AM Yaoyarozu Residence**_

Tsuyu nervously walked the halls of a rather grandiose building. The crystal clear roof that somehow blocked the glare of the sun was supported by delicately crafted marble columns. The walls were lined with paintings of exotic subjects and the floor was covered in an intricately patterned rug. In spite of all the grande gestures and expensive looking items, the whole place had an earthly feel. She might go as far as to say cozy.

Tsuyu felt quite small given her surroundings. "Yaoyorozu really does come from money."

The young girl continued to walk through the building, each room covered in more artistic flare than the last. She reached the end and found a tall man with a man of silver hair wrapped into a ponytail. He wore a sharp tuxedo with a vest. He bowed towards Tsuyu before clearing his throat.

"Am I correct to assume you are Ms. Asui." His voice was posh and proper, a typical butler if her favorite TV shows were anything to go on.

"Tsuyu is just fine," she replied.

He nodded curtly and clicked a button behind him. Next to it was a speaker with a small light above it which quickly came to life.

"Yes?" a soft voice called out.

"Ms. Yaoyarozu, Miss A- Tsuyu, is here for for you."

"Ah, I'll be right down," she cheerfully giggled before the speaker clicked and the light went off.

The man then turned to face Tsuyu again, "There is a seat right there, I suggest you get comfy. Even when the young Ms. says she'll be right down, she finds an incredible way to waste time."

Tsuyu puffed at the man's words, "Do you know here that well?"

He smiled, "I've been in service of the household for decades, and I've been here to care for the young Ms. since before she was born."

"Wow," Tsuyu marvelled at the man, "She's really luck to have some so loyal in her life."

His eyes rested on her face for a moment, only long enough to catch her gaze. "There is only so much I can do. When she was growing up, I could be just about anything she needed, but there was one role just beyond my reach."

"What was that?" she pondered.

"Her friend," he ruefully answered. "I'm sure you understand what growing up in such an environment must be like. Miss Yaoyarozu was always acting so as to not shame her family, and I'm afraid that left little time for such things as friendship or any real connections."

There was a contemplative silence that followed that statement. The man made no further conversation, leaving Tsuyu to her thoughts. Immediately, she drew the connections between herself and her comrade from the entrance exam. Though by different means, both had known isolation. It caused her to feel a sort of kinship, much like the one she had felt for Izuku.

'He knows what it's like to be lonely too.' She thought back to moonlight they shared just a few weeks prior. The warm air on her skin, his arms around her back. She held a finger to her palm, feeling out the spot where he held her hand. They'd talked about so much, what they saw in the false city, what they wished they hadn't, how they felt about the future, even their home life.

Tsuyu had felt herself change that day. She acted differently than she did before. She found herself smiling once. Nothing was particularly funny, in truth she was just staring at the ceiling while trying to get some sleep. She had let her mind drift around, never staying on a top for too long, but for some reason she always came back to that night.

She Tsuyu felt her chest warm, and a bubbly sort of sensation began to worm through her stomach. She reached up to touch her face and sure enough, there was that smile. It wasn't in her nature to do so, but she wanted to move with the feeling, giggle and dance.

More than that, she wanted to understand. Why did she feel this way now? Was it because she was gaining more friends? That she was at the house of one now? Perhaps, it's just one friend in particular. Him. Izuku Midoriya.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?"

Tsuyu stared dumbly, so lost in her thoughts she needed to go back and register his words.

"I'm fine, thanks." She stood up as the gentlemen started to walk back to his post.

"Well, the young madam is coming down as we speak." Tsuyu followed him and was somewhat surprised to see a warm smile on his stiff features. "I can't help myself but ask this of you." He placed his hand over his heart and bowed to the girl.

"Please be kind to her. She isn't the fragile type, but she has much to learn when it comes to the world. It would do my heart well to see her in the company of friends."

Tsuyu wasn't much accustomed to such gestures, but she kept her face stoic and bowed in return. "Of course I will, she's my friend after all."

The two rose to their full heights and breathed deeply. The man turned back around and faced the wall. Tsuyu looked around and for the first time realized that the room only had one door, the one she entered from. The looked up and among the extravagante art and decorations she saw no openings.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking, where is she coming from? I don't see any doors or stairs."

The man gestured to directly in front of him, "The elevator, of course."

Tsuyu looked and saw nothing. A plain wall covered in the same assortment of arts as the rest of the building. Before she could ask if she was looking in the wrong place, the wall moved. A square section about 4 feet by 8 depressed into itself and moved apart. The two sliding doors revealed an elevator car, and standing there in a flowing white dress was Momo Yaoyarozu.

"Hello Tsuyu, are you ready to go to the cafe?"

Tsuyu said nothing, only nodding her head. Momo giggled and began to walk forward. Tsuyu followed her but only after looking back to see the walls moving back into place and the elder man stroking his moustache, clearly amused at her amazement.

"That's way too fancy for just one family," she complained.

"Hey Tsuyu?" Momo stopped for her to match her pace. "Where are Mina and the others?"

"Mina's outside," she put her finger to her lip, "And I think Eijiro took Iida so they could go get Izuku. He texted us the location of the gym he trains at, so they were planning on meeting up there."

* * *

 _ **11:00 AM Kylie's Gym**_

Izuku lay flat on his back, catching his breath unsuccessfully. He'd been like that for a good five minutes. Kylie was just beside him, enjoying the cool shade of the tree while her pupil coughed his lungs out.

She wiped her for forehead and flicked off a few beads of sweat. "It's been a while since I've sweat like this. Good job Izuku, now how do you feel?"

"My lungs are collapsing," he wheezed.

"Not what I meant, but I guess that's kinda important too."

Kylie leaned down to prop him up against the tree. She adopted a more somber appearance in the shadow of the branches. "I meant how are you doing after everything. The entrance exam... the attack."

Izuku found it much easier breath now, but much more difficult to speak given the topic. "I'm doing alright," he lied.

Kylie was hard pressed not to scoff, "No you're not, and you don't have to be after what you saw."

Izuku knew she wasn't one to sugar coat and he'd heard the words before. Everyone one from his mother to All Might had tried to get him to open up, but it wasn't so easy. He was nervous around Tsuyu, but she was there. There was nothing he could say that she hadn't seen.

With everyone else, it just felt different. Difficult.

"Izuku, you know I'm your coach, but I hope you know that I care." She sat down next to him, and leaned his head onto her shoulder. Izuku's eyes widened at the more than rare show of affection. "I want you to be okay, so whenever you need it, I'll be here to talk."

Izuku felt the hot sting of tears biting at the corners of his eyes. "I was so scared," his voice cracked. "I felt so helpless when it started, I felt so useless."

"Shhh," Kylie cooed at him, pulling him into a hug. "You made it through."

"But so many people didn't," he whispered, burying his eyes into her shoulder. "So many just...didn't. I couldn't do anything."

"Izuku, you know better than that." She shifted at brought his eyes to meet hers, "You protected so many from those things."

"But it wasn't enough," he croaked. "If I had trained harder, if I was stronger than I could have done more."

"Izuku," she sharply commanded. "You don't want to go there. If you spend too much time in the could haves than you'll stay there. If you want to move past it then accept it. Train as much as you like, this world is too big for one person to save. Getting everyone together was the best thing you could have done."

He stayed silent, quitely sniffling. He rubbed the tears out of his eyes and stood up. "Sorry about breaking the no crying rule."

She brushed it off, "Don't worry, we aren't in the building right now." She cocked her head and smirked, "I suppose I'll let it slide this time."

Suddenly she whipped her head back. The sudden action surprised Izuku, who followed her eyes to the entrance of the gym. He wondered what she might be seeing before she spoke in a low tone.

"I sense something is horribly wrong."

She made a dash for the side door, and Izuku followed. His legs were still weak from his intense training, so he lagged behind a few steps. Kylie jumped into the room and froze. Izuku felt a true sense of fear grip his heart. He'd never seen her so serious before.

"What is it, is someone attacking?" he panickedly asked.

"Worse," she pointed shakily at the entrance and Izuku almost fell.

"Eijiro? Iida? What are you guys doing here?" the emerald eyes of the boy were wide with a pleasant surprise.

"You know these people!?" Kylie took Izuku and flung him into a weight bag.

"Izuku!" Eijiro yelled from across the room. Iida was behind him screaming his lungs out with his hands on his head.

"Why Kylie?" Izuku groaned while he slid onto the ground.

"Don't you fucking 'Why Kylie?' me." She pointed at the shorter of the two arrivals. "Look at his hair!"

"Hey," Eijiro yelled back, "What's wrong with my hair!"

"What the hells right with it," she marched into her office and sifted through a box of goodies. She retracted a handful of assorted combs and brushes. "You should have taken a cue from your tall friend."

Izuku sensed the signs of attack and screamed at Eijiro, "Run the hell away!"

"What?" Eijiro hesitated, the poor fool. Kylie was upon him in a flash.

Yujiro, who had been silently watching the interaction, rushed over to pull Kylie off.

"Stop assaulting strangers with weird hair."

"It's not weird, OWW!" Eijiro forgot his argument as Kylie had yanked a rather large knot of hair out of his head.

"Black roots?" She examined, "So you're a dye guy huh?" She grinned, her teeth almost like fangs.

"Izuku, Iida, help me!" Eijiro cried out from the ground. "This old ladies really strong."

Iida slowly backed away while raising his hands placatingly. "I don't think it's my place, she's far too frail for me to get involved."

All eyes turned to the spectacled lad, most with pity.

"You poor bastard," Izuku shook his head back and forth, now leaning on the weight bag for support.

Yujiro slowly released his grasp on Kylie, and began to usher the other occupants of the gym away from the scene.

"I was going to let you go." Kylie stood up with Eijiro still under her arm. "My mistake."

She pounced faster than anyone could react, and Izuku couldn't do much more than shield his eyes from the onslaught ahead.

* * *

 _ **1:00 PM Sansa's Cafe, Uptown District**_

Tsuyu and Mina sat across from the prim and proper Momo, each person had a steaming tea cup in front of them, Mina elected to have a soda. The three cups were untouched it seemed. They were all waiting on the boys, who were uncommonly late for some reason.

"Do you think they'll be here soon?" Mina whined as she plopped her head down on the table.

"They have called or texted," Tsuyu pondered, "That's unlike them."

"It's totally rude," the pinkette pointed out. "Momo-chan was super nice to bring us to this fancy cafe and they're just making us wait."

"I don't mind," Momo said gently, "It's quite nice to spend time with you both. Maybe we can have a little girl talk."

"All right," Mina pumped her arm, "Waitings boring, let's chat for a while."

Momo placed her palm against her cheek, "Would you like to talk about what U.A.'s going to be like?"

"No way, that's sooo boring." Mina did an exaggerated yawn for affect. "We need something spicy to talk about."

"Like what?" Tsuyu asked.

"Like that cutie from the entrance exam." Momo flushed at the words and Tsuyu rolled her eyes.

"Did someone catch your eye," Momo wondered.

"Maybe, maybe not. I'm interested in finding out if you found someone you like." Mina wriggled her brows playfully.

"Well, I did think that one boy was charming, in his own sort of way."

"Yes!" Mina's cheer drew the eye of the restaurant but she didn't seem to notice. "Spill the details, what did he look like."

"Well, he had blonde hair," Tsuyu felt a warning flag go off just like that. "Red eyes, and… muscular arms." She brightly blushes while Tsuyu was just stunned.

"The one with the explosive quirk," she said in disbelief.

"Yes," Momo admitted. "He had a wretched personality but I must admit, he's quite the looker."

"Go Momo," Mina danced around their booth to sit next to the taller girl. "Are you thinking of talking to him if he's in our class."

At that the girl huffed, "Not unless he's fixed his attitude."

"Aw you're such a stickler," she playfully pushed her shoulder. "What about you Tsuyu. Got anyone in the cross hairs."

Tsuyu remained silent, but it seemed that silence was as good an answer as any for pinky.

"You _dooo_." Ashido held her hands in front of her mouth. "That's awesome! What's his name? Is it a he? Tell me!"

Tsuyu could choke out a response before she felt Mina grab her by the began to rapidly shake her back and forth. "I must know," she cried out.

Tsuyu could feel the headache coming on already, and did the most natural thing she could think of. Quick as a flash she slapped her tongue across Mina's cheek. The audible smack that resonated through the quiet restaurant earned a few chuckles from the residents. Mina for one was still dumbstruck at what just happened.

Momo giggled, "Are you all right Mina."

She didn't respond. She simply sat still, her head still turned to the direction it had been smacked towards. Tsuyu began to worry.

"Mina," she prodded. "Did I hit you to hard?"

"That depends," she pointed towards the entrance. "Do you guys see this too?"

The other two girls shared a look before leaning out of the booth to see what Mina meant. As soon as they did, they too began to wonder if it was them that had been hit.

Currently walking through the entrance was a trio of comical appearance. The first was a tall blue haired boy in need of medical assistance. Resting on top of his nose was a pair of broken glasses, the lenses more like a spider web than anything else. And even if they weren't broken it was doubtful he could see anything anyway, as his face was covered in welts and bruises. The swelling must have been blocking his vision entirely.

Next to him was another young man. He had long scarlet hair flowing down to his shoulders. It was kept out of his eyes by a white tied cloth revealing bright red eyes and shark-like teeth. He too had a few bruises and scrapes.

Finally, and the most normal look of the bunch, was a shorter lad with a mess of forest green hair. He had far less bruises than the other two, but his clothing seemed to have gone through a sort of meat grinder. His shirt hung onto his shoulders by the barest of threads, revealing a deceptively toned and powerful muscle structure. It was this lad that spotted the three girls in the booth.

"Hey Tsuyu," he waved. "Momo, Mina."

"Izuku?" Tsuyu couldn't believe what she was looking at.

Mina then perked up. "Wait," she stood at and took a few prods at the red head. "Horn buddy? What happened to ya?"

Eijiro's began to shiver uncontrollably, despite the restaurant being a fairly warm temperature. "I don't want to talk about it."

Momo then turned to the heavily beat up boy on the right. "Is this Iida? Oh my goodness, what happened to all of you?"

The tallest of the group crossed his arms and sighed, "Izuku trains with a demoness."

Izuku than snarkily breathed, "Bet you won't have problems with hitting a girl next time."

Iida clenched, and then relaxed his hands. "No, never again."

"Sorry about coming in looking like this," Izuku nodded his head to Momo, "But with the way the buses run, if we had gone to change our clothes, we might not have been able to catch a bus here for another two hours."

"It's fine," Momo scooted over to allow Iida room to sit. "I'm sure you could make up for it by telling us the story of how this happened."

"Before that," Mina interjected, "I think it's time we do what we come for."

Everyone at the table grinned, except for Iida. Stretching his face muscles was a taxing experience at the moment, so he simply held up his thumb.

Izuku slid in next to Tsuyu, completely oblivious to the attention she was paying to his near shirtless state. Ejiro went in next to him, directly across from Mina.

"Mine came in this morning, it's been killing me not to open it," said a anxious Kirishima.

"I know how you feel," Mina concurred. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small disc with the words U.A. Academy in bolded type of the front. "I've been carrying this thing all day."

Everyone pulled out their own discs out, and a sort of psychic buzz ran through them all. These discs held either their acceptance or their rejection. It was very much their future on a plate. Iida was the first to break the silence.

"Should go one by one?" he scanned the table for any sort of confirmation, "Or do you want to all jump in together?"

Tsuyu nodded. "I want to do this with everyone, all together would be nice."

"I'm with her," Izuku confirmed.

Around the table there was a hum or approval. At once they began to move the napkins and table decorations away, each person placing their disc flat on the table. They pressed their index fingers into the center of the saucers. It took a moment to process, but the rings lit up. A soft light was emitted from the centers of the circles, and they transfigured themselves. The general shape of a very large man began to open up in front of each teen, slowly defining its form until it was a miniature All Might.

" **Hello young Midoriya/Asui/Ashido/Yaoyarozu/Kirishima/Tenya** ," they all spoke in sync. " **I cannot show you how deeply regretful I am at the events of the entrance exam, but this message is not meant to bring up bad memories. Instead, I bring you glorius news**!" The hologram outstretched it's arms and pointed at each student. " **You have been accepted to the finest school in all of the land's hero course!** "

All six friends let go of their bated breath, and allowed a bright smile to replace there knitted brows. Izuku slowly clasped his hand in Tsuyu's, and she gently squeezed it.

" **The first day of school is only a few weeks away, and it brings me great pleasure to say that I will be personally involved as one of your teachers. Until then, stay strong and remember,** " he raised a fist into the air and puffed out his chest. " **PLUS ULTRA!"**

The message cut off, and students were left in stunned silence. Of course, Mina was the first to speak.

"You guys know we gotta celebrate right," she mischievously grins at the other five. For once, they didn't feel the need to correct her.

"I supposed we could see if they have anything festive on the menu," Momo offered. Kirishima merely tisked at her.

"You have much to learn young one," he stood up with a flourish of his, at the moment, straight hair, "We are going to the place where miracles happen!" he cheered, striking a pose with Mina next to him.

"Is it the barbeque place?" Izuku half asked, half answered.

"Come on man, this is a special occasion," Kirishima looked insulted. "We're going to the pizzeria on Main Street."

Mina gushed, "The one by the superplex?" She excitedly hopped up and down.

"Of course," Kirishima stroked his bare chin in a joking manner.

Mina squealed before dashing over to grab Momo and Tsuyu, whom had to quickly let go of Izuku's hand.

"Let's go, they have bungee jumping!" Mina bonded away with the other girls in tow while the boys stayed behind.

"Let's stop by the store on the way there," Izuku stated. "I need to buy a shirt."

Iida chimed in behind him, "And I need to buy bandages."

Eijiro rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess I could get a bottle or two of styling gel. Your coach really is evil man."

"It's how she shows she cares," Izuku shrugged. "I think."

The trio stopped their exit when they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Standing there was a very disgruntled looking young woman.

"A couple things," she began, pointing at Izuku. "Nice bod, but that string across your chest doesn't count as a shirt and we have a clear policy right outside the door."

He blushed and said, "Sorry, we were in a rush and I get carried away on somethings."

"I noticed," she gestured to the tables around them, "Your friends scared away a couple customers with their yelling. And lastly, one of you needs to pay for the ladies' drinks."

Izuku took the check and gagged. Normally when he saw numbers this big there was a decimal signs somewhere in there. He turned around to his friends.

"Hey guys," he began. "Wanna split this…"

Izuku stopped when he saw that both boys were out the door and crossing the street. Kirishima yelled back over the traffic, "I know it's unmanly to ditch friends, but the menu looked really expensive. Don't worry though, we're going to get you that shirt, on me."

Izuku turned back and sighed, "Do you have a student discount-"

:"No," she interrupted.

"Dammit."

* * *

 **All right, I know. Really long chapter and none of the exciting bits, but I wanted some more character building and for Kylie to get to connect with Izuku more.**

 **Next chapter is going to see them enter the U.A. and take the quirk apprehension test. I'm not adding any OCs to the student roster but I am going to switch up the placement of some characters, namely those that really could have been in the hero course and those that really shouldn't have been.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

 **Hey guys and gals, gals and guys, gather around and feast your eyes for Uncle Moon has a story to tell. Life's been good and I've been thinking about uploading a new story so I hope some of you like magic, it's gonna been a Doctor Strange X Boku no Hero crossover.**

 **P.S. Sorry for the late update but I've been busy getting my stuff in order. I hope you like and leave a comment on what I can improve on.**

* * *

Izuku took a deep breathe. He felt a light sweat start to form on his back and wondered if he shouldn't have waited to put on the coat to his uniform, what with the heat of August. A quick glance put that thought to bed. It was mild out, a cool breeze was brushing his hair as he shuffled on the door mat.

He kept flicking his eyes from the doorbell to his watch.

'6:58,' he noted that he'd been standing in front of the doorknob for the better part of ten minutes. Tsuyu had sent him her address the night before, proposing that they, along with Eijiro, walk to school together.

He ran a hand through his hair, and at realizing that his green curls were sticking to his palms, saw that all his fittering and such had been him being his old nervous self. But it was only expected.

'6:59.' Izuku and Tsuyu had been good friends for a good few months now, close to a year, but it never occurred to him until last night that they had never been to each other's homes. Until now at least. It shouldn't have made him feel so nervous, he already knew her siblings.

Izuku prodded his tie, lining it up with the buttons on his shirt, as well as straightened the creases out of his pants. 'Should I have done something with my hair? Kylie did give me all those combs.'

Izuku thought back to a few weeks prior, and snickered. After watching his mentor thoroughly beat his friends, and them subsequently sticking him with an unreasonably pricey check (for the love of god it was two teas and a soda!), it had been a nice night. Mina had unsuccessfully tried to get Iida to loosen up, Eijiro had to break Momo out of the habit of using forks and knives on pizza, and Izuku had played a round of skeeball with Tsuyu in a nearby arcade, after he'd gotten a new shirt.

It had been such a nice day that Izuku had forgotten to be anxious about being alone with her. He'd had too much fun to be a nervous wreck, so why start again now.

'7:00.'

Izuku brought a steady hand to the bell. 'Everything goes just fine when I don't overthink it. Just like what Kylie and Yujiro told me.' With that Izuku relaxed his body and pressed the bell.

A muffled ring came from under the door, and with it came the quick steps of a child. The door swung open and Izuku looked down to see the wide eyes of the youngest Asui, accompanied by a beaming smile. "Hey Satsuki, is your sister ready?"

"Hi Izuku," the girl hopped from foot to foot, "She's eating breakfast. Do you wanna come in?"

The boy paused, "I'm not sure if I should. Are your parents around?"

"Satsuki," a kindly voiced approached from behind the door, "I've told you to be careful about opening the door."

"But it's Izuku, Mom!" the little one called back. Izuku's heart skipped a beat, Tsuyu's parents? He'd never thought to meet them or even ask about them. Quickly he ran both hands through his hair, a wasted effort on his wild rat's nest.

"Oh," the voice was quickly approaching, "Tsuyu's told us so much about you." Izuku gulped, rubbing his damp palm on his pants leg.

"Hello Mrs. Asui." The women emerged from behind the door with a bright smile, making Izuku wonder if Tsuyu tendency to be less expressive was unique to her. She had long, silky green hair just like her children, and the blush marks of her youngest daughter. While her face was far rounder, and eyes slightly bigger, her resemblance to Tsuyu was uncanny, much like Satsuki's. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Well please come in, come in." She ushered him inside and Izuku stumbled past the doorway, "It's been so long since a friend of Tsuyu's has come to our home."

"Nuh uh." Satsuki shook her head, "Habuko was here last week."

'I haven't seen her in a while,' Izuku remarked in his thoughts, scanning the living room for no real purpose. He saw a few family photos, he assumed the toad like man was Tsuyu's father. A painting of tadpoles in a pond, Izuku sincerely hoped that wasn't another family photo. And at the end of the room was a set of swinging wooden doors.

"Oh that's right," she shuffled towards the door while she spoke, "Well in any case, it has been a while since Tsuyu brought a new friend for us to meet, and you're the first boy she's ever told us about."

Izuku was glad that both occupants of the room were facing forward, because he couldn't have hidden his blush in he tried. "R-really," Izuku tugged at his collar. "I never knew."

"Yes, it's true. Given how often she speaks of you I was sure she would have asked you to come sooner, but I guess that's just my little Tsuyu being nervous," she stopped at the door while Izuku processed this information.

'Tsuyu, nervous?' Izuku blinked owlishly, 'That thought never even crossed my mind. And she talks about me. I wonder what she says? I'd guess it's good things since her mother seems happy to see me. Or maybe she tells her embarrassing stories. Is that what she's smiling so easily. Is she laughing at an old story! Is it about how-

"Izuku dear, are you ranting to yourself in your head?" Izuku paused to stare at the women. "Tsuyu told me you have the habit of overthinking things."

"Oh, yeah." He nervously rubbed his head, "I guess I do…"

'Is that the only story Tsuyu told?' Izuku internally kicked himself, 'Of course it is. All we ever do make a fool of ourselves.'

The matriarch of the household, oblivious to his gloomy state opened the door. "Oh," she remarked. 'She was just here a moment ago."

Izuku followed behind her to see an empty kitchen, well almost empty. Hanging from the ceiling was none other the Tsuyu's little brother, Samidare. The boy glanced up, or should one say down, from his video game to flash a peace sign at Izuku.

"Sup creeper," he dryly greeted.

While Mrs. Asui looked as if to scold the boy, Izuku merely laughed. "Did Habuko tell you to call me that?"

"Yup," he replied, not looking away from his game.

"Samidare," the oldest of the three sternly called, "What have I told you about getting footprints on the ceiling."

"Satsuki does it," he complained.

"She's six." Samidare who was previously staring intently at the game drooped his arms toward the ground, sighing with a roll of his eyes.

"Fine," He popped off the ceiling and landed in a chair with a noise, "I died anyway."

Mrs. Asui clinked her tongue before turning back to Izuku with a sweet smile, "My name is Beru by the way, sorry for not introducing myself earlier, and my husband is Ganma Asui. He's away on business but I'm sure he would have been happy to meet you."

"I would have been happy to meet him too," Izuku then twisted on his hips while shaking his arms, "Well I think I'll just wait outside until Tsuyu is ready."

Before he could leave, Beru caught him by the shoulder and herded him to the table where Samidare had began a new game. "Don't be silly, Tsuyu is probably getting a few things in order upstairs, you can wait in the kitchen while I go get hair."

Izuku quietly nodded while he sat down. She left the double doors, presumably to get her eldest child, while Izuku flicked his eyes to Satsuki.

"What are you playing?" It was an innocent enough question, but it seemed to light a flame in the young boy. He hunched himself over his hand-held and growled at the screen.

"I was playing Mario Kart on the multiplayer server, but this guy keeps bumping me off the track."

Izuku smiled, "I used to play that game all the time, what track are you on?"

Samidare tilted the screen so Izuku could see. "The rainbow bridge huh, was that the one without any sides?"

Almost as soon as the words left his lips, a red shell zoomed up from off screen a smacked into Samidare's car. It flipped over, falling off and into the void of space, and another player zoomed by. While he was in range his player tag flashed across the screen, 'Ashmaker in 1st place.'

"Yeah that's how I remembered it." Izuku smiled as he reflected on his younger days. As obsessed with heroes as he had been, even he liked to dabble in the art of gaming. That wasn't to say he was ever very good at it, truth be told he was awful, like most other things he tried. But with his many years of play came experience.

"Alright, Samidare. Skirt along the outside of the track."

The younger boy looked on questionably, "But I'm gaining on him. If I go on the outside now he'll get even further ahead."

"Don't worry, there's a turn coming up, it's going to force you to turn anyway. If you turn into the track you'll have to make a larger turn, bt if you edge onto the path now." Izuku let the implication hang in the air, and Samidare grinned.

On the screen, Dry Bowser began to move to the other side of the track, and another player came up behind him to steal the open position. But just as Izuku predicated, coming out of the loop was a sharp turn, one that skeleton was already on the path for. While most of the other players were still changing direction, some falling off the track all together, Samidare's avatar was back on a straight path, and making pace on the cackling Waluigi.

"Yes!" Samidare began to push his fingers into his DS even harder, as if that would make his character speed up any further. In truth he didn't need to. The turtle skeleton was now neck to neck with the arch nemesis of Luigi.

"You can do it Samidare," Izuku was beginning to grin at the screen. Sure it wasn't quite his victory, but it was the first time he'd seen Samidare express open joy, and he thought it was rather nice.

"HA!" The moment of triumph had come at last, and with it came a cheer from either boy. Samidare even spared a hand to high five Izuku, who graciously reciprocated.

The moment died upon its arrival as a quickly approaching spot of blue began to race forward on the world map.

"No," Izuku whispered. The dot approached far to fast to be another racer, even with a bullet bill.

"Maybe they let it go before I passed him up." Though hopefully proposed, even Samidare didn't believe his own words.

Rocketing onto the screen was a blue shell floating by the power of white dove wings, the blue case encrusted in spikes. It stopped just in front of Dry Bowser, to the horror of both young men. In a flash of white and blue, Samidare's avatar was engulfed in a brilliant explosion, and a cackling Waluigi raced by, stealing first place and ending the race.

Samidare's hand wobbled as he closed the screen, folding the game into his pocket. "That's not fair," he cried.

Izuku solemnly patted the boy's back, "Life rarely is."

A voice was cleared behind the two. Samidare lacked the strength of will to actually turn his head, so Izuku was the one to see the newcomer.

"Hi Mrs. Beru," Izuku nervously waved.

"Just Beru is fine," she offered with a smile.

"I should have guessed," Izuku muttered. "Is Tsuyu ready?"

"Oh yes she is," Beru gigled into her hand, "But before you see her she wants to tell you something."

What?" Izuku wondered what could be so important to saw.

From narry an inch above him, Izuku felt someone breathe on the back of his neck, "Morning."

What happened next was too fast for most to register. Izuku activated Full Cowl and pulled Samidare behind him using his left arm. His right hand curled into a fist, pulling his elbow back in preparation for an attack. In the span of time between a heart beat, Izuku had secured Samidare behind him and prepared for battle, yet he was stopped by the sparkling of deep black eyes and the shimmer of dark green hair.

"I was expecting a scream," she started, "But up close like this, you're kinda scary when you're serious."

It took Izuku a moment to realize that Tsuyu was holding up her palms, and another to realize that he was wearing a glare, the same one he went it battle with. "H-Hi Tsuyu-chan," he released his use of One For All, as well as the tension in his muscles. "Ready for school?" he awarkly asked.

"Yup," she dropped from the ceiling, just the slightest bit shaken by the look in his eye, "My backpacks in the living room, you can tell Samidare goodbye. It looked like you were having fun with that game."

Izuku gapped like a fish, "You saw that."

Rather than answer, Tsuyu placed a finger on her lip, and shrugged. Turning on her heel, she walked through the double doors, leaving Izuku with his unanswered question.

'She's more like a fox than a frog,' he realized. A fair assessment to be sure.

Turning around he saw Samidare looking up towards him, mouth slightly agape.

Izuku bent down to his level and tentatively asked, "Did I scare you?"

Samidare blinked at the older boy and spoke in a mesmerized state, "You were covered in lightning."

Izuku wasn't quite sure what to say, this wasn't what he was expecting after what he'd just done. "Yup," Izuku popped the finish, and weakly flapped his arms, "That's how my quirk works, at least that's what it looks like when it works."

"Cool," Samidare marvelled at the young man before him, and Izuku realized that this was the end of their conversation.

"See you later Samidare," Izuku clapped his shoulder, "Goodbye Beru-san."

The mother kindly smiled, "You're every bit as kind as Tsuyu said, Izuku. Have a nice first day, and keep a look out for my daughter."

Izuku smiled back, and gave her a thumbs up. A calm and collected image that would have been ruined if one could hear his inner thoughts. 'Tsuyu calls me nice things to her family!'

Crossing into the living room, Izuku saw Tsuyu waiting by the door while Satsuki waved from the coach, "Bye Izuku!"

"Bye bye Satsuki, see you soon." The two teens closed the door behind them, getting hit by the crisp morning air and the glare of the morning sun. They began to walk down the street, and Izuku tried t spark up a conversation.

"Fall started pretty early this year, huh Tsuyu." Izuku tried to laugh at his joke and ignore what had almost happened in the kitchen, but it seemed Tsuyu was a little more disturbed than she had initially show, not responding at all.

Worried that he had actually scared her, Izuku tuned to apologize. To his shock, Tsuyu was actually shaking, but from the looks of it, it wasn't fear.

"It's colder than I thought," Tsuyu's teeth chattered just a bit. She clicked her phone to life and sighed, "But if we go back now we'll be late."

Prepared to hold out against the cold, Tsuyu was surprised to feel a pleasant warmth over her back. She looked around and saw that Izuku was draping his school coat over her own.

"I forget that your quirk makes for a bad time in cold weather," Izuku looked down as he walked forward. "Sorry Tsuyu."

Tsuyu found that her uncommonly long tongue was stuck in her throat. She saw the lightest of blushes resting atop the bridge of his nose, and she couldn't help her own. But like all other times she blushed, Izuku was totally unaware to what he was doing to her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, pulling the second coat's arms around her neck.

"What are friends for?" Izuku snickered to himself as he continued, "But still, it's only a bit nippy outside, I didn't think you were so weak to the cold."

"I'm telling Habuko that you're being mean to me," Tsuyu began to walk faster, leaving Izuku behind her a few steps.

The boy merely scoffed at the implied threat, "I'm not scared of her." Tsuyu didn't respond, but she did reach into her pocket to pull out her phone.

Despite the brisk air, Izuku managed to sweat, "It was just a joke you know." Tsuyu remained silent, quickly tapping on her screen, perhaps a message was being sent. "Tsuyu? Tsuyu hold on."

Izuku began to jog towards her, but she started to hop forwards, one hand still typing away. Izuku was now properly fearful of whatever she might be sending. "Tsuyu please, do you know what can happen in 3 seconds of paralysis?"

"10 if she tries really hard," she called back.

"That doesn't make me feel better." Izuku was now in a blatant sprint, but without using Full Cowl, Tsuyu was leaving him in the dust.

"It's making me forget about the cold, so I think I feel better."

To anyone that looked out their window, they would see the strange sight of a young girl hopping just out of reach of a crying both with her phone held high, a bright smile on her face. A heartwarming sight, if not a confusing one.

* * *

Izuku was as still as a statue outside the gates of U.A. For his first day he had expected a few things. Student orientation, having to fight his way through a crowd of new students, get lost trying to find his way to his classes. These were things he could expect, things he could prepare for, things he could accept. Was he didn't see coming was the swarm of reporters and cameraman each trying to get a 'quick word.'

For just a little over five minutes, Izuku was being grabbed at and pulled on by relentless news anchors which he could barely see thanks to those blinding flashes of light coming off the cameras. He blinked over and over, trying to clear his eyes but it wasn't very helpful. All he could see were dozens of microphones covering his face and more blinding flashes. Why on Earth did they still use those old cameras, do they enjoy causing the confusion or were they just earnestly oblivious to their effects.

Finally it became to much when they to began to herd him away from the building and apart from Tsuyu. Izuku planted his feet and resisted the flow of people.

"ONE AT A TIME," he roared, overcoming the collective voices of the people present. It created a vacuum of silence, for a brief moment, that one person eagerly took advantage of.

A man in around his early 30s, dark brown hair and copper eyes, stepped forward and put the microphone directly in Izuku's face.

"Are you Izuku Midoriya?" he asked.

"Yes," the boy hesitantly responded.

"Is it true that you led the students to defend themselves from the villain attack in the Southwestern testing site?"

Izuku looked a little more than surprised at the question. "I- I wouldn't call it leading really."

"Were you the one that consolidated them to the entry point?" The mic never strayed to far from Izuku's face.

"Yeah but-"

"And you personally fought and defeated over a dozen criminals, most of whom are now incarcerated?"

Izuku gulped, "Everyone was fighting. I don't remember how many I beat." That was a lie. Izuku would never forget the bloodlust in their eyes, nor would he forget the amusement they took in their deadly acts.

"Is it true that you took down the zero pointer?"

"I did that with Kaa-chan!" Izuku tried to fire back.

"Well I could'a done it without your help fuckwit." The volatile retort came from the blonde bomber himself, striding past the huddle of reporters. "Don't forget that Deku, I'm still the best." It was less a snarl than a snap, as his spit the words out like they were poison.

Immediately the reporters attempt to flood the new arrival but he wasn't as polite as their previous victims.

He set of a sizeable explosion between him and the cameras, giving them a deeply hateful glare. "Don't think for a second I'll waste my time on you clowns, when I say stay out of my way it's a warning for all of you!"

Izuku had never been so relieved to see Kaa-chan angry before, not even when the villains were attacking. With all eyes on him he planned to get the heck out of there, but it seemed that one reporter hadn't taken the bait.

The same man as before grabbed Izuku by the shoulder before he could escape. "If you don't mind, I've actually got a few more questions."

"No, you don't." Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to thank the man but froze under the piercing gaze that rested under a mess of black hair and stubble. Izuku could swear his outfit, a loose black bodysuit with yellow goggles and white ribbons wrapped hanging off his shoulders, looked familiar. "It's their first day of school, don't make them late Mizuro."

"My bad Eraserhead," the now named reporter cavalierly shrugged. Izuku's eyes opened wide. He turned back to look at his rescuer, the pro-underground hero known for speedy takedowns. "But since you're out here, do you mind answering a few questions for me?"

Before Mizuro could lift the mic, Eraserhead was walking towards the large group of reporters still trying to hound Katsuki. "All of you need to leave. You've been harassing students all morning, and your testing the schools patience. You were allowed on the grounds by privilege, don't abuse it."

At once, the clamor of the reporters and the bright flashes of the camera slowed down. His words had some of the vultures looking rightfully ashamed, but others were less than hesitant to turn there attention once more.

"Could you explain the low attendance rate of U.A. this semester?" one called out.

Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose and rolled his eyes. Could he not have any peace and quiet for his first day? "As you all know, an organization of villains make an attempt on the lives of many students at our entrance exams. And as I'm sure many of you...reporters are aware," he stressed the word as though it caused him physical pain, "Many students lost their lives. It is natural that some of them would feel it prudent to drop out of their enrollment, and for others to attend a different school."

Without a moment of rest, another question was fired, "Do you think you'll be capable of keeping your current students safe from another attack?"

"I have the greatest confidence that should another attack occur," Aizawa gestured to the imposing castle of a school behind him, "That our staff, composed entirely of pro heros, will be more than capable of handling anything."

More questions were fired, and the frenzy of the reporters began to return to its original state, but Aizawa paid it no mind. He turned and saw Bakugou entering the building, and then gestured to Izuku to follow suit.

Izuku got the message, and took a longer, faster stride to the entrance, making sure that Tsuyu was right beside him. He closed the door behind him, and immediately felt a palm clasp onto his shoulder.

"Dude," a voice began behind him. "Those guys are vultures." Izuku chuckled, already knowing who it was.

"They got you too Kirishima?" he high fived his friend as the three students walked forward.

"Yeah man," the excitable ginger groaned, "It was like a flash flood. One minute on out in the open on my own, and the next I had thirteen cameras in my face."

"Definitely not what I thought my first day was going to be like," Izuku nervously rubbed his wrist. The inside of the building was just as impressive as out, but the strangely empty halls were almost ominous.

"Me neither, I was so ready man." He hunched over with his fists clenched. "I woke up early and did my routine thinking a needed to beat a whole crowd of students. Once I got here, the place was empty. But since I was sorry early, I went ahead and scouted out the building. I found the gym, the cafeteria, the pool, the track, the-"

Izuku interrupted, "Did you find our classroom?"

Eijiro paused. "Nope," he shook his head. "I didn't actually think of that."

"That sounds like you," Tsuyu said, feeling much better out of the cold.

Izuku huffed, not the least bit surprised. "Come on, I think we still have time to find it before class starts."

Before another word was uttered, a boisterous voice started to boom from the PA system. "Attention all freshman students!"

Tsuyu recognized the energy and rashness of the speaker. "Hey guys, I think that's Present Mic."

"Please make your way to the auditorium for some announcements! You've got 5 minutes, so don't be late!"

Izuku turned to his friend, "Did you see the auditorium?"

"Yeah," Kirishima began a brisk pace down the hall, "We're kind of far off so we better hurry."

With Eijiro at the lead, Tsuyu and Izuku were able to gaze at truly grandiose establishment they were in enrolled in. The pasted the gymnasium, which looked fit for olympic athletes with all of the state of the art equipment, the cafeteria, from which some deliciously tantalizing smell wafted over, and a commons area. The tree canopy provided a nice shade that Izuku assumed would be more useful in the summer, and the grassy knoll looked soft enough to sleep in.

In no time at all, all three entered the auditorium. It seemed they were a bit early as it was mostly empty, but one pink themed girl seemed determined to save them a seat anyway.

"Over here," Mina wildly waved at her friends with a beaming smile. "You've gotta meet these two."

Izuku and his two companions shared a look, all of them wary of any friends the quirky pinkett might have made. They were half way down when Izuku noticed something strange.

"She said two right?" Tsuyu questioned him, before he pointed back at Ashido. Next to her was a blushing brunette with her hair in a bowl cut. She was was making polite conversation with Iida, occasionally laughing at his over the top hand movements. "So, is Iida the other person she was talking about, or did she misspeak."

Tsuyu carefully surveyed the area before she held a hand in front of Izuku and Eijiro's faces.

"Look," she started, "Behind Iida."

"What is that?" Eijiro scratched his head as he lead the other two into the row of seats.

"They look like…" Izuku almost didn't believe what he was about to say. "A floating set of clothes?"

Indeed, sitting behind Iida was a school uniform, seemingly contorted around an absent body. Quickly, an empty sleeve began to shake back and for, seemingly waving at them.

"Hi! I'm Toru, Toru Hagakure!" Still stunned at the clothings ability to vocalize, Izuku couldn't respond. Tsuyu seemed to shrug it off before taking her seat next to the brunette.

"Nice to meet you Toru, I'm-" Tsuyu was cut off by the coat's arms frantically waving.

"Don't tell me!" The arms came into a fixed stance, something like thinking position. "Mina was just talking about you guys, I wanna see if I can guess."

Izuku had escaped his stupor, realizing that it was simply a girl with an invisibility quirk. "What did she tell you about us?" he asked while sitting down next to Eijiro.

"Well, she's obviously Tsuyu," the frog girl hummed in approval, "And he's obviously her horn buddy, Eijiro." The invisible girl then got closer to Izuku's face, leaning over Tsuyu to do so, "So you must be the nervous cryer Izuku."

"I'm not a nervous cryer," Izuku pouted.

"But you're eyes were all read when you got here." Eijiro scrunched his nose at he continued, "What were you even crying about this morning?"

"I threatened to call Habuko," Tsuyu plainly stated.

"Oh, I haven't seen her in a while," Eijiro grinned. He had fond memories of Mongoose. "How is she doing by the way?"

"She's fine, today's her first day over at Isamu academy." Tsuyu snickered to herself. "She laughed at the photos of you guys all beat up."

Iida crossed his arms and blew out a frustrated breath, "There was nothing funny about that day."

"What's not funny about you guys getting whooped on an old lady," Mina grinned.

"I dare you to saw that her her face," Iida quietly raged at the girl. "She unnaturally strong, and _fast_. I could get away, and she has this evil laugh when she's fighting. It's like… Well it's like-"

"Let go off me already, I told you I don't want to go!" The angry roar emerged from the entrance of the auditorium, coming from a predictable source with an unpredicted companion.

"It's the first day of school," Momo stood with a firm grip on Katsuki's forearm. "Being late for orientation is being more than rude."

"I don't need to go to some stupid orientation," Katsuki nipped like a rabid dog towards the girl. "What's it that they'll tell me that I didn't know already!"

"Oh, that's were Momo went." Mina didn't give the two a second glance, but no one else could pull their eyes away.

"She was like an old grandma version of him," Eijiro snickered while he pointed at Bakugou who was being dragged by the cuff of his arm towards the group.

"It doesn't matter whether or not you get any new information." she left a hand on her hip while he continued to glare at her, "This is an opportunity for you to get to know your fellow classmates."

"Momo," Izuku made a cutting motion at his throat, "I've known Bakugou for years, and this isn't going to go how you think it is."

Yaoyarozu scoffed as she posed confidently, "I'm sure he'll be something of an acquired taste, but that's no reason not to get to know him."

Mina leaned towards Izuku, speaking quietly and covering her mouth, "You weren't here for the conversation, but she thinks he's cute."

"Oh, her poor little heart," Izuku shakes his head, Tsuyu mimicking him.

"Fuck it!" Bakugou tore his arm away from Momo's grasp, stomping towards the stage in front of the arriving students.

All eyes of the quickly filling auditorium were drawn to his, literally steaming, visage. Momo quietly looked back to Izuku.

"How well do you know him?" Izuku could feel nothing but pity for her pleading eyes.

"Well enough," Izuku placed his hands over his ears once he saw Katsuki grab the empty mike. Yaoyarozu materialized some ear plugs out of her neck and did the same.

"Attention backup dancers!" All eyes glared at the blonde, as it that would ever mean something to him. "That annoying chick in the back wants me to get to know you idiots. I don't need to because I'm already better than any of you!"

Following that inspiring declaration, the room fell into a frenzy of various challenges and insults all directed at the blonde. Of course he ignored them all, electing to stuff his hands into his pockets and march back towards the exit.

Izuku felt a profoundly powerful headache start to pound on the back of his skull, as if all the hate that was bouncing off of Katsuki's thick skin was looking for someone else to attack.

"He's a lot worse than you said he was," Tsuyu pointed stated.

"It's not always this bad." Izuku told this lie about as well as he told most others.

He's coming back by the way," Iida making a chopping motion with his arm towards the approaching eruption.

"Glad we got that out of the way," he sharply jabbed at Momo.

"Great first impression Kaa-chan." Izuku sarcastically groaned to most everyone's surprise.

"Fuck off, Deku." Without another word he stomped away.

"Izuku, you feeling alright man?" Kirishima patted his friend on the back.

Izuku smiled back, "Why wouldn't I be."

"You just seemed kinda off," Eijiro offered. "I've never actually heard you be sarcastic before."

"And aside from that, you're out of uniform." Iida then sharply pointed at Tsuyu, "So are you! Why are you wearing two jackets, and Izuku why don't you have yours on."

"Are you two dating?" The eyes of the group turned on the bowl cut brunette before widening at the two accused parties.

"What!?" Izuku's outburst was thankfully unnoticed by the majority of the auditorium, whom were still fuming at the words of the bomber, "We're just friends, and you see it was really cold outside, for her not for me, because her quirk doesn't mix well with cold weather, kindo of like Kaa-chan's, but he doesn't like to admit that, but what I'm saying is that the cold was getting to Tsuyu while we were leaving her house and I forgot to get it back."

While Eijiro was holding back snickers at seeing his friend so flustered to explain so a small thing, Mina was smiling to herself and thinking, 'How could this be any better?'

"Do you two go on walks often?"

'Thanks Uraraka,' Mina's smile would fit well on the Cheshire cat, 'Introducing you to everyone was a great idea.'

"Of course not," Izuku felt as though the collar of his shirt was a bit tight on his neck, "I mean we do end up walking to a lot of places but it's normally with other friends."

Tsuyu must have been enjoying herself as much as Mina because she decided to chime in too. "Well there was that one night in the park."

"Tsuyu why?" Izuku exasperatedly pleaded.

"That sounds so romantic," the buxom brunette clapped her hands.

"It was," Tsuyu nodded while Izuku gapped like a fish behind her, "We held hands and hugged, even talked about our future."

Iida brought his palm up to massage his chin, "So, I've been misconstruing you romantic love for a platonic one this whole time."

"Iida please," Izuku was for all intents purposes a radioactive tomato at this point, just a few luxes short of glowing.

"I must admit that I was unaware too," Yaoyarozu smiled at the two, "I'm very happy for you both."

"Yeah man," Kirishima pumped his first, "You work fast dude."

"Oh," Mina over exaggerated the widening of her eyes and the length of her breath, "So when I asked you who you were interested in, you took such a long pause because you were fantasizing about-"

In what was sure to become a recurring pattern, Tsuyu's tongue shot out like a bullet before lashing across the pink girl's cheek. The brunette seemed totally unperturbed by the action as she went on to introduce herself.

"Nice to meet you all by the way." She excitedly took the hand of each student, shaking it intensely as she went on, "I'm Uraraka Ochako, future hero."

"I guess you've learned all of our names by now," Yaoyarozu deduced.

"That's right, Iida and Mina told me and Toru all about you guys."

"I really want to assert the fact that I'm not a nervous cryer by the way," Izuku adamantly ignored the snickering of his friends.

"She also told us about how you totally kicked ass at the entrance exams, villains and robots." Izuku had almost forgotten that Toru had taken up a seat right in front of him, but from the angle of the seats, all he could see was were her head probably was.

"Well, it's nice to know that she says some nice things about-"

"All idiots shut up," The room fell silent, many thinking that it was the same blonde back for a second announcement. When they looked to the stage they saw an entirely new person antagonizing them, but Izuku and Tsuyu recognized him as the man that saved them from the horade of cameras and microphones.

"The person that called you over to the auditorium is a loud clown, and normally everything we need to tell you would be said during home room, but you're here so let's get this out of the way." Aizawa took a deep breath while he prepared himself for his next words. "Every last testing site that host U.A.'s entrance exam was attacked by an organization of villains and during the attack, a collective 47 students were killed."

Every student ceased their whispered conversations, eyes now locked on the man on the stage. This lecture was quickly departing from what they thought it would be. "Over a hundred more were injured, and while that might not seem like a lot compared to the thousands of students that applied, it meant everything to the families that were left behind."

Aizawa plopped off the stage, microphone in hand. "Take a look around you. While you were walking along the halls, did you see many students? I don't think so, and do you know why? Because plenty of the students that could have gotten in dropped the course, and plenty others went to another hero course all together,"

Aizawa began to walk towards the exit, stopping right in front of the door. "I have no pretty words to comfort you, the life of a hero is a hard one, and most of the time it's a short one. Everyone that's still sitting here today has already had their first taste of life as a hero, and if you don't think you can handle another then leave."

No one moved, but Aizawa wasn't totally convinced. "I'm not playing a game, and I'm not being clever. This academy is here for the people that truly want to become heroes. If you're staying because you don't want to look like a coward than you don't belong here. If you're staying because you think that you've seen the worst of it then you don't belong here. And if you're staying because you think that everything I've said doesn't apply to you, then I want you to take a moment to ask yourself how many of those dead students thought the same thing."

If the room was silent before than it was a void now. The only thing that could be heard was the deep breathing of so many nervous students. Then there was a clop against the floor. A footstep. From the pace alone one could feel the fear and shame of the student walking. Izuku looked up, but the boy's face was turned away from everyone, towards the wall. His footsteps were joined by another. A girl that could look at nothing other than her own two feet. She was followed by more, and more. A dozen students must have left, heads hung low and thoughts indiscernible from their hidden faces.

Izuku felt for them. For their fear and their choice. Not everyone was meant to be a hero. Even he felt the slightest desire to leave, and live a normal safe life. But those thoughts would never derail his mission. He was entrusted with a great power for the sake of others, and it was his responsibility to follow through.

"Don't pity those who left, and don't think you're their better." Aizawa walked back to the stage without missing a step. "There is no shame in admitting to your own inability. Instead pity the few fools in this room that know they should have left, and chose to stay. Those are the students that will fail."

Aizawa placed his microphone into the holder, and turned to all that remained, "I welcome you all to U.A. From now on, your life is hell and the only way out is to graduate. Hold the words Plus Ultra close to your heart if you want to make it through the next four years brats."

Izuku swallowed deep, and felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find the eyes of Tsuyu staring deep into his own. She slid her finger tips down his arm to curl around his palm, and he squeezed back.

"I've got your back you know?"

Izuku's heart missed a beat. "I've got yours too."

An amused snicker was heard just next to them, coming from a smiling Eijiro, "I guess the rest of use just aren't here huh?"

"I guess those two really are dating," Mina sighed.

"Don't make jokes until you pay me back for the restaurant." Izuku blanched at his friends.

Still, for all the grief, they had each other's backs. They would need to if they wanted to survive.

* * *

 **All right it's short and boring but I've been picking up extra shifts at work and I was writing in between my breaks. Don't worry though, the story shall continue, hopefully with better writing because if you didn't notice, I was off my game.**

 **Sorry for the late update, Uncle Moon Moon is out!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: My Hero Academia is the property of Kohei Horikoshi and various production companies.

Key:

Normal Speech: "Sup my dude."

Screaming: "WHERE THE HELL DID IT GO!"

All Might: " **Midoriya my boy!** "

Thoughts: 'This was a horrible decision.'

 **I'm pretty happy right now guys, I mean really happy. Like super duper, can't stop smiling, dance with a stranger on the subway happy. And here's why. I never thought I'd get this many followers, especially not on my first story, and now we're at 400. I'm going to dance like nobody's watching… you know after I lock my doors and cover the windows.**

 **Alright, thanks to everyone that followed and favorited, and huge thanks to everyone that left a review.**

* * *

 _ **Classroom 1-A, 12:45 PM**_

Izuku sighed. Given the circumstances there wasn't much else he could do. To be more precise, there wasn't much else he wanted to do. After the stone cold welcome lecture they were given by their sensei Aizawa, he expected everyone in the classroom to be a bit more stoic, or at the very least quieter. But of course, one specific student was absent from that speech and already stirring up a mess. Though if Izuku had to guess, the speech probably wouldn't have stopped anything.

"Say that to me again you droopy eyed fuck wit!"

Yep. Nothing could have prevent these two… personalities from clashing.

"I said that you're annoying me, hush up." Izuku had never seen anyone speak to Katsuki like that. It was kind of awe inspiring, but in the grown man kicking an angry bear kind of way. The boy currently arguing with Katsuki was actually taking a peaceful nap before the blonde bomber himself had kicked the door open.

"You're dead sleepy!" Izuku saw the familiar harsh glow engulf Katsuki's hand and realized that it might be time to get involved.

Slowly he approached the two with raised hands, making sure to plant himself firmly in between either boy. "Calm down Kaa-chan. I'm sure that he didn't mean anything rude, right... erm?"

"I'm Shinsou, and I very much meant it. Don't expect me to apologize to this ape." The purple haired boy sneered at the blonde whose pupils had somehow disappeared, leaving only the vein filled whites of his eyes to burn away at him.

"Move it or eat it Deku! I'm fine with blowing you both the dust!" Smoke filled the room, pouring out of Katsuki's palms. Yaoyorozu was at the edge of the classroom ushering the other students out with Tsuyu and Iida, for just in case of course.

"Kaa-chan I don't want to fight but I don't like being threatened either." A bolt of electricity cracked over his outstretched arms, and Bakugou took on a predator's grin.

"Look at you finally acting like to got a pair." The first explosion went off in the palm of his hand, hardly large, but by all means a threat. "But it's not fooling anyone, you're still a cowardly bitch."

"Don't be so sure," Izuku smirked. "I've got a pretty intense teacher you know. I'd say she makes you look like a joke."

Never before had the vein on Katsuki's neck looked so violently pronounced. Izuku couldn't believe he'd said it, but he couldn't deny how good it felt. Katsuki of course felt differently.

"DIE DEKU," Katsuki brought a clawed hand forward, and Izuku braced himself to cover the young man behind him, but in that moment he didn't feel the familiar surge of One For All overtaking him. Izuku's heart missed a beat thinking he was about to take the brunt of the explosion completely unprotected.

But there was nothing. No flash of heat or light. The suffocating cloud of smoke the Izuku remembered unfondly was totally absent. Opening his eyes Izuku saw Katsuki staring confusedly at his own smoldering hand. Kirishima was also staring at his hand, only partially hardened. Izuku looked behind him to see if it was somehow the boy's doing, but if his puzzled expression was anything to go it couldn't have been.

In the center of the doorway, a certain prohero cleared his throat. "As far as first impressions go, you're all the worst students I've ever seen, and class hasn't even started." Standing behind Aizawa were all the students that had shuffled out of the room. "First off, I had to go roundup these guys, and now I'm having to use my quirk on you annoyances."

"Who the fuck are you?" Katsuki glared daggers at the man, but compared to their red glow and unblinking appearance, he was the truly intimidating one.

"So I guess you weren't there for orientation." Aizawa strolled to his podium, releasing his gaze of the four students, "I'm your teacher smokey, and your first grade is an F."

"The fuck for!?" Katsuki was given a wide berth by the students now pilling into their seats.

"For causing me extra work." Shota then pointed at Izuku and Shinsou, "That goes for you two as well."

"What?" Izuku stumbled on his way to his seat behind Iida, "I didn't do anything."

"And he started with me," the purple haired boy accusedly points at Bakugou.

"The green one was antagonizing him instead of trying to cool him down, and you didn't do much better."

Eraserhead casually flipped his hand towards Yaoyarozu, and Tsuyu. "You two were getting the others out of harm's way, gold star. Unfortunately, your classmates have made such awful first impressions that I feel the need to spread the blame out evenly."

Reaching underneath the podium, he pulled out a blue bodysuit with white lines decorating it. "This is the active uniform that everyone will be using until you have your own hero costumes. Now, you can find yours in your lockers, everyone has one, and I expect you to be in uniform and on the field in no less than five minutes."

"Um sir-" One student with blonde hair with a black highlight in the shape of the thunder bolt began.

"No interruptions." Aizawa flatly droned. "Failure to be on time will result in twenty laps for the whole class."

"That's not fair," Toru seemed to have been pouting, no one could really tell from her lack of visible expression.

"I said no interruptions, 24 laps whether you're on time or not." The class dejectedly groaned, save for a few of the more stoic individuals. "But I understand that as future heroes, that's a little unreasonable."

"Oh thank god," a skinny looking young man with black hair and box teeth sighed in relief.

"So I'm going to add four laps for every minute that the whole class isn't present on the field." Aizawa fiddled with his phone while the class let there possible fate sink in.

"Where are the lockers?" asked Yaoyorozu.

"That's a good question, I sure hope you find out soon." Aizawa didn't bother to look up from his screen.

"Could we get laps off if I apologized to the blonde idiot," Shinsou posed the question with a completely blank face.

"Maybe if if smokey apologizes too." Shota stroke the stubble on his chin with an amused grin, "How about it Katsuki, feel like saying sorry?"

"Fuck off," the blonde offered back.

"Profanity huh, that's another four laps."

"Could we stop for a minute?" Izuku nervously gulped when his teacher looked at him, "You're asking us to find the locker rooms, change our clothes, and be on the field in five minutes. Isn't that a little unfair?"

Aizawa then flipped his phone over to show the class a running timer, "I started the time almost a minute ago, so it's actually a little less."

Seeing that no one was moving, Aiawa stood up and pushed the door open. "Bye."

At once the students flooded out, everyone dashing off in different directions hoping to see anything that looked remotely like a locker room.

"Eijiro!" Izuku called out from the third floor, "Where was the gym?"

"I looked, didn't see a locker room in there," the fiery redhead called back.

"What about the track?" Tsuyu said, already on the ground floor.

"Nothing!" he cried.

"Out of my way shitheads, I'm checking the left wing!"

"That language is in appropriate for a learning environment!" Iida shouted.

"Shut the fuck up, you have super speed, you should be checking the whole damn building!" Bakugou screamed back.

"It doesn't work in small spaces!" Iida argued. "Turning corners at high speeds is-"

Izuku interjected, "Take a chance Iida, you still owe me for the restaurant!"

Walking down the stairs without a care in the world was Aizawa Shouta, who carried with him the most amused of grins as he watched his students scurry like mice.

'I'm a good teacher,' he thought to himself.

"I found it," Mina yelled from the ground floor. "Crap, it's for the upperclassmen."

"Not anymore it's not," Bakugou came flying in like a mad man. Gripping one of the locks in his hand he set of a small but powerful detonation.

'I'm a great teacher,' he smiled to himself as he walked towards the field.

* * *

 _ **U.A. Track and Field Location 1:00 PM**_

Aizawa stood in front of his class, each one looked rightfully afraid, save Katsuki, Izuku, and a young man with red hair and a blue eye on one side and white hair with a grey eye on the other.

"2 minutes late." Aizawa clicked his tongue. "36 laps, that's gonna take a while, our track is a half mile long after all."

"That's like a marathon," Kaminari said from the back of the group. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack, but nobody's running quite yet. First we'll be doing an assessment of your current skills, or lack thereof if you're as weak as you all look."

Izuku groaned to himself as he listened to his teacher groan, "Are teachers supposed to be this mean or do I just find them like this."

"Alright, you were muttering so you can go first." Aizawa plucked a stunned Izuku right out of the crowd before pointing him towards a bucket filled with white rubber balls. "Take one out and throw it was hard as you can."

Izuku felt it in his hands, and saw how unremarkable it was. A plain white ball, fairly light and just a little squishy. To honest it reminded him of… Quickly he looked over the field and saw all the familiar equipment and stations he'd seen from school. The long jump, the little gauge meter for grip strength.

"Hey," he turned to a bored Aizawa. "Isn't this all the same fitness test we took in middle school."

"Oh, so that hair doesn't sap all the nutrients from your brain," Izuku's forehead ticked, but he let the instructor continue. "That's right, you'll all be doing it again, but with a few differences." He gestured to each machine in the yard. "The exercises they had you do at school were to gauge your fitness level, but we're testing the upper limits of your quirk. Everything you see has been stress tested by All Might himself, so there's no need to hold back."

Izuku looked down at the ball in his hand and smiled. "If that's how we're doing it."

Everyone was surprised to see the torrent of lightning engulf the boy before them, but Izuku was focussing on their shocked gasps. He was plotting the course for the ball in his mind.

'This angle will do it.' Adjusting his grip on the projectile, Izuku reared his fist back while turning his hips to the side. In one smooth motion, he turned on his axis while swinging his arm forward. He let the ball loose at the peak of his throw, and it soared. Far and fast, the ball was quickly escaping the sight of everyone present, and Aizawa smirked at the numbers on his meter.

"Well looks like you can make up for that terrible first impression after all." On the screen in pale white against a black backup flashed the numbers, '690.5.' "Alright, who's up next."

Everyone's hands shot up, but Katsuki seemed to be the most eager to start, shoving everyone out of his way as he walked forward. As they approached each other, Izuku expected a glare or a ripping issult. He wasn't expecting a smile.

"If that's how you make a first impression than you're still the weak old Deku I know and hate."

Izuku didn't respond, striding forward to stand next to Tsuyu and Eijiro who were both smiling at him.

"That was awesome man, definitely put that jerk in his place." Eijiro''s teeth were showing in his bright grin.

Tsuyu likewise offered him a congratulations. "You did great Izuku, just like I knew."

Izuku wouldn't be able to answer however as Kaa-chan had decided to advertise his attempts.

"I hope you're still watching Deku, cause here's what I think of your bullshit show off!"

Like a pitcher at the mound, Katsuki clutched the ball in his right hand while he reared back his arm. Nobody missed the bloodthirsty grin on his lips or the harsh orange light emanating from his palm.

"DIE!" With all the power of a raging bull, Katsuki had yanked forward, ripping through the air with an explosion. The ball was propelled force at an even faster pace than Izuku's. The blonde turned to the screen in Aizawa's palm with a smirk.

"720.6," he chimed as he walked back to the group. "Hope I didn't embarrass you, _Deku_."

"No, not really." The blonde could have popped a vessel with how hard he grit his teeth, but Izuku ignored him to turn towards his teacher. "Mind if I have a second go?"

"Couldn't care if I tried," the scruffy man lazily kicked a ball over to Izuku, who was still ignoring a fuming Katsuki.

Before he picked up the ball however, Izuku rolled up his sleeves, just past his wrists to reveal little black bands. The class began a hurried whisper to themselves, what could those be. Only Eijiro recognized the paraphernalia.

"Are those the…" Eijiro eye's flicked from his friends blank face to the bands.

"Yep," Izuku fiddled with the lock on his left wrist until a faint click was heard.

"How long have you been wearing them?" Izuku pulled away the one on his right before setting them both on the ground.

"All week." Izuku leaned forward to pick up the ball.

Tsuyu turned to Eijiro and asked, "What are they Eijiro."

"They're the weights that his trainer gave him," Eijiro snapped towards the explosive teen behind him as he burst into laughter.

"Are you serious," he stomped forward still chuckling, stopping in front of the bars. Izuku was swinging his arm in circles trying to loosen his rotator cuff. "You think a 5 pound wrist weight is going to make up for that gap I put on the scoreboard?"

When Izuku ignored him further, Katsuki scowled. "I thought you were at least smart enough to know better." In an effort to see some rise in his former victim, Katsuki kicked the two bands away… by about half a centimeter.

If that weren't strange in itself, the next thing he did really confused the class. Dropping to the ground to clutch at his big toe, Katsuki swore. "Son of a fuck, why did that hurt!?"

Izuku finally spoke up, now in the same stance as Katsuki had taken, "Because they aren't 5 pounds." The lightning began to surround him again, more intense than before, and an imperceptibly darker shade of green. "They're fifty each."

Izuku leaned back, raising his foot into the air. And in one snapped motion, he brought himself forward. The foot sunk into the dirt beneath him, and his arm shot out like a canon.

This time the wind cracked around him, and the class was hard pressed not to gape at the shockwave that overcame them. Almost everyone was gawking at the scrawny frame of the boy that had just displayed some enormous power, but for everyone that was present for his destruction of the zero pointer were surprised that his arm was perfectly fine.

Aizawa scanned the crowd for their various reactions, and found that Katsuki's was especially hilarious, in the so-angry-it-should-not-be-possible-to-grit-your-teeth-that-hard sort of way. But as he looked at he screen he thought that it wasn't completely unfounded.

"799.1." He showed the screen to the class before turning to Izuku, "What's the matter, couldn't make it to 800?"

Izuku couldn't tell if he was being serious, but he decided to just shrug it off while he stumbled back to the group.

'Good news, 10% doesn't hurt anymore.' Pausing his thoughts Izuku straighten his posture and wiped his forehead. 'Bad news, even short bursts drain my stamina to much. For an actual battle, it's almost useless.'

"What are you standing around for," Aizawa kicked the bucket over to his students who all scrambled to pick out a ball. "I'm not going to tell you what to do every second of the day, start coming up on your own."

Ochako excitedly walked up to the bucket, and with all focus on her, Tsuyu tugged on Izuku's sleeve while he was reattaching hid weights.

"What's up?" he looked at her questioning gaze.

"There's no way that 100 pounds made that kind of difference while you were using your quirk." She put her finger to her lip as she continued. "After what you did to the zero pointer, I'd think that 100 pounds is nothing."

Izuku smiled coyly, "It wouldn't, but these weights are different."

Izuku lifted up his pants leg to show her the weights on his ankles. "These weights are 50 pounds each too, but when I'm using my using my quirk, they drain some of my excess energy to increase their gravity."

"Their what?" Tsuyu said in disbelief.

"I don't really understand the mechanics behind them either, but when I'm using my quirk they get heavier depending on how much energy I use. The more I use, the heavier they get, so the weight is always proportional to my strength."

"Wait," she held up her hand, "They work by draining your energy."

"Yeah," Izuku hesitated at her tone, "Why?"

"I thought your quirk was super strength." Izuku swallowed.

How could he be so stupid as to forget. It was pretty crucial that everyone believed he just had basic super strength. By saying he used energy he was admitting that it was an emitter type quirk. Maybe it wasn't a giant piece of information but it was inconsistent with what he'd been telling everyone, and that could get dangerous.

"Well, I just sort of call it energy." Tsuyu didn't look convinced, so he continued, "When I'm using my quirk I feel this sort of surge, and you know how the lightning shows up right? I just feel more accurate calling it energy than anything else."

There was a long pause. Both parties were thinking to themselves, and Izuku couldn't stop the mental beration of his own slip up.

'I'm an idiot.' He could have screamed. 'And I'm still lying to a friend, to _Tsuyu_. This whole thing makes me feel sick.'

Tsuyu shook her head, 'No matter how he's changed he still can't lie to save his life.' Blankly looking forward, she was connecting more and more dots. 'That's not to mention that he didn't discover his quirk until about a year ago. Way too late for a natural awakening. Just like a thought at the entrance exam, he was and still is training his body for something it couldn't naturally handle. Even with the training, he broke his arm and leg anyway.'

She took amount to look at him. His features were alight with the telltale signs of stress. The persistent swallowing, the avoided eye contact.

'Does he not trust me after what we've been through?'

"Did you guys see that!" Both teens left there internal musings to see Kirishima's awed expression. "Uraraka just touched the ball and it's still flying!"

Izuku and Tsuyu turned and had to suppress a gasp. The meter didn't have any numbers flashing through it, but an infinity sign was lighting up the screen.

With a snicker, Izuku turned to a fuming Katsuki, "Aren't you going to threaten her?"

Not moving an inch, Katsuki growled, "I'll still kill you."

Kirishima rubbed his head, "Before this he actually tried to kill you and Shinsou in front of sensei. And he screamed die when he threw his ball. Is it me or do they just let this stuff slide?"

Tsuyu hummed, still thinking to herself. Izuku glanced at her, just a little worried that she might be seeing the holes in his arguments, and that he might lose a friend to his lies.

* * *

 _ **Kylie's Gym, 2:00 PM**_

Zencho sat in the rafters of the gym, something that had become a pass time of hers. She kicked her legs back and forth while she flicked at the strings of her hoodie. During this time of day, she couldn't do much. Going outside was too dangerous to her identity, and even staying on the ground floor ran the risk of someone talking about her elsewhere. Night time was the only time she could actually go out and explore the city, but it was so crawling with associates of villains and yakuza that she might as well have screamed her name.

If she was to be candid, it was boring her brains out. Still, she had found a fairly entertaining pass time.

"Duck," she called out, kicking her unlaced shoe at Yujiro, who deftly caught it before it could leave a dirty print in his sandy brown hair.

"Could you not do that while I'm cleaning?" he leaned on his broom and mop, posturing like a tired worker. "Better yet, come down and help me."

"No can do," Zencho swirled her finger around before sticking her thumb at the door. "Anyone could walk in with that door unlocked and you've still got the windows open."

"Yeah, so anyone could see me dodging objects thrown from the ceiling." He placed palms outward and shook his head, "So why don't you stop doing that?"

"Because it's a risk I'm willing to take," she smiled.

"I wish Kylie were here," he walked towards a inclined bench, recently used if the strewn weights were any indicator. "No one dares to leave weights around when she's here."

"Maybe you ought to be more assertive."

"I thought you like me the way I am?" He playfully wiggled his eyebrows, to which she snorts.

"I guess I don't find it too hard to tolerate you, but in small doses," Yujiro frowned.

"You're wonderful company you know," he said, dripping with sarcasm.

"That is why I'm here after all," she yawns into her hand. "Not like I travelled through time to save the world or anything. I just came to make a few jokes and knock some boots, so what are you doing later?"

"Wha…?" Yujiro took a moment to really digest what she'd just implied. "Are you still joking?"

"So when is Kylie getting back?"

"Don't change the subject like that!" Zencho couldn't stop the smile on her face. "What the hell was that before?"

"Hmm?" Zencho played innocent like a pro, "I was only joking, I am in fact here to save the world."

"After that!" he yelled at her.

"I asked where Kylie is," she replied. "And then you ignored my question, and now we're here."

Yujiro huffed, "Who ignored who's question?" He picked up a loose plate and stacked it with the others. "I asked first."

"Quit being a baby and tell me when Kylie's coming back," she kicked another shoe at not Yujiro, but the neat pile of dust the he'd just swept up, dispersing it all over the floor again.

"You know that's your shoe you just got dirty right," Yujiro pick up the offending article by it's laces.

Zencho just glared, "Weren't you just complaining about me dodging questions?"

"And don't think I forgot what you said either," he heatedly pointed at the girl, who nonchalantly twisted one of her silver locks. "But to answer your question, she's going to U.A. to see Izuku and check up with Aizawa."

"U.A.?" Zencho furrowed her brow, "Wasn't she avoiding All Might."

"She changed her look," Yujiro vaguely gestured over his body, "Has a different hair style and everything. She thinks she'll be unrecognizable."

"Do you?"

Yujiro hummed, "I guess." He shrugged before leaning the broom against the ring to go to the weight rack again. "If I didn't know her I wouldn't be able to tell."

"Then she'll be fine, but she's still going to be forever." Zencho popped off of the wooden beam she'd been sitting on, hanging by her arms and swing to the ladder. "I've got to find something to do and it's not going to be counting the floorboards again."

"Again?" Yujiro snickered.

"365, and shut up," she responded. "What have you got?"

"I've got cleaning to do." He hefted another weight onto it's rightful place. "You can go find something else to keep yourself entertained."

Zencho, instead of firing another verbal barb at the boy, made her way around the room. She closed the blinds on every window and flipped the sign on the door, letting everyone know they were closed for the moment.

"You know that everyone just left for lunch right?" He shook his head lightly, "They'll be back in an hour."

"So we've got an hour," she argued. Without another word she started to pull off the wooly jacket and hood that had been covering her for the most everyday since she'd come to the past.

"What are you doing?" Yujiro was just the slightest bit uncomfortable with the undressing girl in front of him, but that wasn't to say she wasn't attractive.

She was pale, but that was to be expected, the only part of her that could conceivably feel sunlight was her face, and even that was often under a hood. Behind the pale skin was an uncommonly toned physique. Her arms had a generous bit of muscle, and if the slim black t-shirt was any indicator, she was in good shape elsewhere too.

Yujiro, who'd been training his own body for years and years as he was well into his twenties, could appreciate the hard work and training that she must have put herself too.

"This wouldn't happen to be about what you mentioned earlier would it?" Under the nervous approach, Yujiro was at least a little interested, to which the silver haired girl took note.

"Not exactly," she stretched her shoulders, pull one arm over the other across her stomach. "But we're going to shed a few clothes and get sweaty, so it's pretty close."

"Hold on, backup, woah woah." Yujiro pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you asking to spar?"

"Don't tell me you have problems hitting a girl after all the times that Kylie's put the hurt on you."

"Um," Yujiro brought up his hand up and began to lift up fingers one at a time. "I have no idea what level you're on, so you could get seriously hurt. Next, you've been sleeping most of your days away and walking in the cities every now and then. I can see you've done some training, but you must have gotten rusty after all of that, and finally-"

Interrupting Yujiro's speech was a wheezing gasp. Tired of the wait, Zencho had been bouncing from side to side, trying to limber up. After a satisfied hum, she brought a single knee up to her side before kicking out like a snake. The heel of her shoeless foot dug into Yujiro's gut. Not a debilitating attack but he was surely searching for his wind after it.

Placing a hand on hip hip, Zencho tilted her head, "Wasn't one of Kylie's rules something like always be prepared?"

From his turtled position on the floor, Yujiro raised a lone finger. "Rule 7, Nowhere is safe, and your enemy is ruthless."

"Indeed I am," she smirked.

"Fine, let's spar." He shook himself, trying to regain his baring. "But I'm not going easy on you."

Zencho giggled, flipping her hair over her shoulder and squaring herself towards the boy. She sunk to the ground, one leg far ahead of her, and the other bent beneath her body. She held her hands like knives before her, palms facing each other.

Yujiro stood tall, drawing his right foot behind his left, heel off the ground. His arms went to his side, but bent at the elbow to have both of his hands in front of him. His palms were facing the ground His left palm faced up with his right was facing his left.

Zencho studied him with a sharp eye. "I've never seen you in that stance before."

"Well since you're always paying such close attention I figured I should use something you haven't seen yet."

"Slow your roll Yujiro," she smirks, "Just because I haven't seen _you_ use it doesn't make it new."

"Really?" Yujiro shuffled to her left. "Think fast!"

With practiced grace and form, Yujiro's palm, still flat, flickered towards the young woman. She shifted to the left and left it pass her forearm with a glancing blow. But Yujiro pulled back, achieving a firm grasp on her wrist as he did. In a quick yanking motion he pulled her left arm away from her guard, sneaking in his left for a quick strike to the nose.

Zencho ducked under the strike, and propelling off of her bent leg she hot forward. While she was under his arm, she slammed her elbow into his ribs. Yujiro had done his best to defend, but he could feel the bruise forming now.

Coming up behind him, Zencho pushed her knuckles into Yujiro's back. In a flurry of strikes, she began to target the miniscule spaces between the muscles in his back, the cavities next to his spine, anything and everything that could sting. But the strikes were off. They connected but not in the way she was used to.

"Surprise!" Yujiro turned around, seemingly uninjured.

He kicked his leg out to snap his feet behind hers. He began to send his fist toward her unguarded left, but Zencho would dodge. Yujiro just continued to pressure her with an unrelenting onslaught. It was becoming to much for her to handle, she had to retreat. It was that moment that Yujiro gained his advantage.

She took a step backwards, but caught her leg on his outstretched foot. She would have tumbled to the ground if not for some quick thinking.

She latched her arms onto Yujiro's shoulders, and using all the power she could muster from an ungrounded stance, flipped the young man under her. She would make a cushion out of her opponent if nothing else.

Yujiro reached one hand to the ropes of the ring, and held them both steady. But the fight wasn't finished. Both of them were tense, with Zencho so close she could complete the take down, but Yujiro was in a position to send her flying.

"So," the young woman causally hummed, "Did all those strikes to the back not hurt or..."

Yujiro realized she was asking a real question, "Oh, well I was shifting my back while you were doing that. You never got to hit were you were actually attacking, but those definitely stung."

"That's pretty neat," Zencho didn't realize until now that she was really hanging on the boy. She could his heartbeat against her neck almost. "You must have spent a lot of time training to pull something like that off."

"I guess I don't do too much else, I work where I live and my trainer is basically my granny."

"I wouldn't let her hear that," she chuckled. "And I wouldn't get to comfortable like this either."

Zencho moved like a fluid, slipping around the still hovering boy. She yanked his arm away from the ropes and kicked his feet out from him.

Yujiro did his best to resist the motion, but that didn't change the fact the he was now at a 30 degree angle floating above her, or the fact the she hand wrapped one leg around his in order to get more leverage.

The fraction of a second passed and gravity pulled Yujiro down onto Zencho's low stance. Seeing that this wasn't what she meant to do, she stuck her arms out to catch him. Far to late for that however.

Both young adults toppled together, each having their arms in one way or another closely wrapped around the other. Yujiro opened his eyes to see the brilliant ruby red irises of his partner. They were actually quite close, and slanted in a sort of playful glare.

"Your pretty bold Yujiro, I guess you can be aggressive when you want to be."

Still inches from her face, Yujiro brilliantly rebutted, "I didn't try to… It's not like I'd disagree to… You landed in the dust pile and got your hair gray."

"Good to know," she hummed.

Releasing one of her arms, she placed a palm on his stomach. Zencho curled her legs to put her feet on Yujiro's thighs. She pushed on both, and explosively launched Yujiro into the air, before flipping off of the ground.

"Well all two seconds of that was pretty fun, but you should never get a girl's hair dirty." yujiro leaned up, still blushing while Zencho climbed up the ladder. "I'm gonna take a shower, but we should do this again sometime. Toss me my hoodie will ya."

Yujiro picked up the forgotten jacket and tossed it up, "It's kind of impressive how much innuendo you can fit into your conversations."

"It's impressive how much of Kylie's foot you can fit in _your_ endo."

"I love you too, bitch." Yujiro effortlessly dodged the shoe Zencho threw.

* * *

 _ **U.A. High School, 3:30 PM**_

Each student stood silent, huddled together like a pack of gazelles under a lion's hungry gaze. Everyone had completed the quirk apprehension test, but their teacher held a deeply apathetic gaze towards them.

"All of you did okay," a wave of relief relaxed them all, "If you were still in elementary school."

Oh crap.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean!?" Katsuki glared daggers into his teacher, who only squinted back.

"It means you're all pathetic." The crowd was a mix of reactions, but the most common denominator was the 'screw you too' glare they were pinpointing at their sensei. "Oh what, did you think you were already the best of the best? Get your head out of the clouds, all you did was get accepted to U.A. You still need to survive the next four years."

"Sounds like a piece of cake," Katsuki crossed him arms.

"Sounds like you're a future dropout." Aizawa ignored the angry barking that he'd elicited from the young man. "I expected more from all of you."

"What do you want from us man, it's the first day." Even Kirishima could stand the man's unfounded hatred of them anymore.

"Let's go ahead and discuss classroom expectations then," Aizawa stepped towards the group. "Everyone here survived and fought against real villains, actual murderers gunning for your throats. You've seen your peers die or worse while having to fight for your lives. Why is it that when I got here expecting you to act like young future heroes, I find...this. A bunch of children that don't seem to be any different for their troubles. I see one of you threatening your other classmates, and two more just pissing him off."

"That wasn't-" Izuku was cut off.

"I hear you complaining about having to run laps, really. Do you think you'll never have to run when you're out in the field!" The outburst caught the class off guard. "I expected better from the lot of you, and from now until the day you graduate I want your best! I offered you a chance to leave in the auditorium, and you all chose to stay!"

The class fell silent. They all contemplated their own actions, and the truth in his words. Izuku felt especially at fault. He did survive, and he had determined himself to strive and become better, yet he'd gone and let his rare competitive side impede his way.

"You can all think about that while you're running laps, no quirks."

This statement wasn't met by a chorus of groans, and Aizawa allowed his expression to soften, but only for a moment. "Line up on the track. Ready set, go."

Everyone set off at their own pace. Bakugou was headed to the front as expected, but he met a sort of resistance in the dual quirked boy, Shoto if Aizawa remembered correctly. The son of Endeavor, trained at a young age for the purpose of becoming a top tier hero.

As much as he disagreed with the young boys upbringing, he couldn't deny its benefits. With everything that was coming, soldiers were going to be just a important as heroes.

Not so far behind either of them was Izuku Midoriya and Eijiro Kirishima. Aizawa knew quite a bit about Kylie and Toshinori's trainee, and by all means he had the right mindset of things, but he was also immature in some ways. A competitive streak behind an otherwise gentle nature if he heard right. Kirishima just wanted to prove himself.

Momo was intelligent, organized, methodical. Everything that one would need under the pressure of battle, but she wasn't as assertive. She tries to be everywhere at all times because she needs to be the person that everyone else needs.

Then there was Tsuyu. He'd taken a special interest in her. Over the videos of the villain's attack, she had been the one student to never panic or stop. There was a focus and calm that some experienced soldiers didn't have, and her intelligence wasn't to be understated.

And finally, at the very back of the running students was Shinsou. He'd learned of the boys quirk, and almost stormed into the school board to yell at them all. He could control anyone that responded to him and they were going to put him in class B? God how he hated some of the people he worked for. Still, as impressive as he quirk may have been, he was the physically weakest of them all, and had a personality comparable to the blondes.

For all the flack he just gave, it was a good crop of students he'd been given this year. All they needed was time and experience.

The crunch of shoes on dead leaves and sticks brought him back to reality. He turned around, and was immediately confused at what he saw. An elderly woman with steel gray eyes and light gray hair, kept in a short ponytail. She was wearing a thick blue coat and woolen cap. While it was chilly it wasn't nearly cold enough for that kind of attire.

"Um, hello ma'am." Aizawa approached her with caution. "May I help you?"

"Well I guess this disguise is working working just fine." He recognized that voice, "I was starting to think I was too obvious."

"Nana?" Aizawa's eyes widened before glaring at her, "What the hell are you doing here, if Toshinori sees you-"

"We'll tell him that I'm Izuku's grandma visiting from out of town." The grandma put on a kindly smile, and Aizawa had to admit, she did look like she could pull of the kindly old mother facade.

Then she pulled on his ear, dragging him down to her level, "But if you're so worried about me getting spotted then don't call me Nana."

"Right, my mistake Kylie." Aizawa yanked his ear out of her hand, "Or are you going by a different name for Izuku's 'grandma?'"

"I'm sticking with Kylie," she straightened out her hat, "Now what are those kids doing?"

"Running 36 laps like I told them."

Kylie snorted, "Isn't that a bit much for a first day?"

'Oh like you've ever gone easy on a trainee,' he mused internally.

"They need to learn," he grumbled. "I came in and they were acting like a bunch of brats."

"They _are_ a bunch of brats," she pointed out. "But they do need to be ready."

"That's right," Aizawa sighed, rubbing his own neck. "By the way, did you come here for any specific reason, or did you just wanna risk being caught."

"Nothing important." She chuckles to herself, "Just an old lady going on a walk, checking up on her grandson is all."

"I'm being serious," Aizawa groans.

"Me too," she shakes her head sadly, "Osteoporosis is no joke for gals my age."

"I can't believe you right now," Aizawa face palmed before gesturing to the field. "How did you even get in here?"

"I told the people at your front desk that I was Izuku's grandma bringing him lunch."

"They bought that?"

"I forged the papers so that I had the authority to pull Izuku out of school if I need to." She then looks seriously at the prohero, "The security here isn't up to snuff, and that's dangerous."

"I know," he replies, "I've told them how we need to tighten things up around here, but they just talk about how raising security would make U.A. look unconfident in its own abilities."

Aizawa sighs deeply, sitting down in the grass, "I work for a group of idiots sometimes."

"Haha," she jokingly points. "They all think I'm dead so I don't have to deal with them anymore."

"Stop enjoying this so much."

"I can't, it's too damn easy."

"Back to the matter at hand," Kylie reaches into her thick coat, pulling out a small bag. "They don't need to know that the security has been raised." She hands the bag over to Aizawa.

Sifting through the contents, Aizawa found several small, but surprisingly dense, metal orbs. Rolling one around in his hand, he looked back to the older woman.

"What are they?"

"Izuku's lunch," she rolled her eyes, " What do you think. Place them around the school and they'll act like sensors."

Reaching into the bag, she pulls out a rectangular box. Sliding one finger down the center, light began to emit from the center to present many small symbols on the surface.

"These will let you know which areas are showing activity, and this one," she circles around the symbol in the left corner, "Will sap power from each sensor for a very powerful shock."

"How do I recharge them?"

"Solar powered," she rubs her nose, "And zero maintenance."

"Where did you get this?" Aizawa looked at her questionably, "And where did you get those gravity weights for Midoriya?"

"Little gifts from Zencho," she smiled, "Technology just a decade ahead the way she puts it."

"Well isn't that nice," Aizawa looped the bag back up, hanging it off his shoulder. "Did she happen to mention whether or not they made these before or after the world gets ruined?"

"Say's she got 'em from some girl in the support department of this school. Hei or Katsune or whatever."

"I have to look into that," Aizawa remarked. Looking back to the track, a pleased hum escaped him lips. It seemed that in their short conversation the group of students mad made quite the progress. The slowest of them, still Shinsou, was on his sixth lap, while Bakugou, Todoroki, and Izuku where rivaling each other on their eleventh.

"Izuku's doing well," he said plainly. "Going head to head with some real natural talents so far."

"He better," Kylie spit, "The kids got zero talent, nada, none. If he's not working ten times as hard then he's two hops from doomed."

"I guess you must be pretty happy that he's come so far," Aizawa grinned, and earnest and happy display.

"Well you know," she confidently crossed her arms, "I did a pretty good job getting him up to snuff if I say so myself."

"So I guess you could say you're proud of him." Aizawa dodged a quick jab to his head.

"Don't put words in my mouth Shaggy, or I'll be giving you a haircut," she let a threatening half smile hang on her lips.

"Yeah yeah," he responded. "I've got to go make sure that the brats are okay."

Before he could walk away, the familiar crunch of boots on the dry leaves went of behind him, and Aizawa sighed, wondering who could it be now.

He turned his head, and his breath hitched in his throat. Behind him was a mountain of a man, shoulders as broad as three men and a good head above Aizawa himself. Blonde hair the had bangs shooting up in the shape of a V, and the bright ever present smile that the world grew to idolize was beaming straight at him.

" **Hello Aizawa,** " Kylie shook imperceptibly when she heard the voice. " **Who might this woman be?** "

Aizawa's gaze shifted from Nana to Toshinori, silently thinking to himself, 'Oh course this is happening, because when is my life not a train wreck.'

* * *

 **Oh my! What's this, an early on encounter between student and teacher. Will All Might recognize his old teacher the way she is? Will Kylie keep her composure around the man she let think he failed her? Am I, your faithful writer as asshole? Almost definitely, but those other questions will be answered in the next chapter.**

 **All right, that's that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one. I'm going to be keeping up with my updates on this story but I've got another one on my plate now and it's doing surprisingly well for a first chapter.**

 **Sorry for the late update guys. Really screwed up on my end.**


	14. AN

Alright, I don't like beating around the bush or making you guys wait forever to get a chapter, so let me explain.

This was my first story, and I like it. I really love the premise but I hate what I did to it. I rushed it along, and as a very good quote I read pointed out, I half assed it.

Next week I'll be deleting it, but that doesn't mean I'm dropping it. Next week I'm going to publish the rewrite, and I promise not to screw it up.

New Title. Deku: The Unyeilding Hero


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